I'm a big fan of The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong With Banking and What To Do About It by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig. Anyone interested in the future of banking and how banking should be regulated needs to read this highly accessible book. Recently, Admati and Hellwig have written a response to their many critics, which attempts to debunk 28 flawed claims - it is available here. In the video below, Admati gives an interview to INET about The Bankers' New Clothes.
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.