I have just finished watching Prof. Niall Ferguson's three-part television series on China. China's economic transformation over the past four decades has been remarkable. Ferguson explores the origins of this transformation as well as the prospects for the future. In terms of the future, Ferguson sees the overheated Chinese property market, an ageing population, and growing wealth inequality as threats to China's continued prosperity. You can watch the entire series here.
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.
