If we want to understand finance or economics, then we need to understand human behaviour. The BBC's Horizon has a really interesting programme (hat tip: Graham Brownlow) on human behaviour, which explains how it affects our decisions about money and finance. It is available here on BBC iPlayer until 6th March.
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.