Ever since Bill Clinton's campaign strategist coined the phrase in 1992, "it's the economy, stupid", politicians and commentators have believed that the economy is the most important issue for voters when it comes to general elections. Click here to read a wonderful piece by Roger Scruton in The Guardian which argues that true conservatives are driven by more than economics, and that the current divisions in the Tory party need to be looked at through this prism.
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.