When things go wrong, it is handy to have someone to blame. During financial crises, that person is usually the short-seller.

That happened in the 1929 stock market crash, when Herbert Hoover, the US president, railed against those selling company shares they did not own. It has happened since around the world, including in the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. It is happening once again amid the current financial turmoil.