Last week I was reading about Bitcoin, the open source peer-to-peer digital currency, in a technology magazine. It was predicted that Bitcoins would become an alternative to central bank issued currency as they circumvent the traditional banking and payments system. As a result, their value against the dollar had surged from $20 at the beginning of 2013 to $266 dollars yesterday. However, yesterday, after reaching this high, the price of a Bitcoin fell back to $150. Click here to see price and trading history of Bitcoin. Some experts think that these price patterns signal that there is a Bitcoin 'bubble' - see here and 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.