As someone who has supervised nearly 10 PhD students over the past decade, I am always delighted to hear that my former students are doing well in their academic careers. Graeme Acheson, who was my first PhD student, has just been appointed to a full professorship at the University of Stirling. He starts his new post at the end of January. Well done to Graeme!
My colleague and former PhD student Gareth Campbell has created a website about the British Railway Mania - click here . This episode has been described by the Economist as probably the greatest bubble in human history. Gareth's website provides background on the Mania and posits some explanations for the 'bubble'. In his explanation of why the bubble happened, Gareth places a lot of emphasis on investor myopia regarding future dividends and uncalled capital. His study of investors during the episode does not support the view that this episode was fuelled by naive and irrational investors.