The Bank for International Settlements (the bank for central banks) has recently published its 2011 annual report - it is available here. In it, the BIS warn of the dangers to the UK economy of continued low interest rates and quantitative easing. You can read the Daily Telegraph's coverage of the report 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.