Finance companies and lemming metaphors.

"While many people believe that lemmings commit mass suicide when they migrate, this is not actually the case. Lemmings will often migrate in large groups, as they posses a very strong urge to do so when their population becomes too dense. Often, a small stream or similar obstacle will block the migrating lemmings' path, causing them to stop and scurry around in a panic until the overwhelming urge to press on drives them to overcome the obstacle no matter what the consequence. In most cases, large migrating groups of lemmings will reach a cliff overlooking the ocean (as is common in their environment), where they will stop until the urge to press on causes them to all jump off of the cliff and start swimming to exhaustion. They, inevitably, drown as a result.[5] The myth of lemming mass suicide is long-standing and has been popularized by a number of factors. It is usually stated that the main source of the belief in the suicide myth was propagated by The Walt Disney Company documentary White Wilderness which includes footage of lemmings running head-long over a ledge. The filmmakers contrived this scene by forcing a number of lemmings off a cliff.[6]
Due to their association with this odd behavior, lemming suicide is a frequently-used metaphor in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemming

Does any of that sound a bit like the behaviour of investors in small local finance companies?

What is the figure now? 8 in receivership in the last 16 months? 4 in the last fortnight?

The higher the promised return the higher the risk of loosing the lot. Not even banks or mattresses are risk free and a mattress doesn't pay any interest at all.

It is not just the poorly managed finance companies to blame here. A few financial advisers should be for the high jump as well. As much as I hate to recommend more laws, that is one area that does need better regulation. Lastly the sheep who invested all their money in such companies should have diversified and spread their risks.