It seems that my blog was not the only place which did a piece on religion and economics on Reformation Day - click here for the Guardian's interview with Sasha Becker, where he suggests that religion may explain why some EU countries have higher budget deficits than others.
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.