Click here to read a piece by Barry Eichengreen, where he highlights the dangers of analogical reasoning in the area of monetary policy. He suggests that past experiences shape modern central banking practice - the Fed's policy is motivated by a desire to avoid its inaction in the early 1930s and the ECB's policy is motivated by Germany's desire to avoid the hyperinflation of the 1920s. However, these analogies may be the wrong ones for today's problems. To avoid faulty analogical reasoning, Eichengreen suggests having a portfolio of analogies from the past. The bottom line is that economists need to know and understand the past.
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.