The housing market in the UK and US have been described as 'frothy' in recent months. The Bank of England has even gone as far as removing its Funding for Lending scheme from households with effect from 2014. The housing market in many economies has been indirectly supported by extensive nursing of banks by taxpayers. In addition, low nominal borrowing rates and near-zero (if not negative) real interest rates have provided the fuel for yet another housing boom and bust. None other than Nouriel Roubini is also concerned about overheating housing markets around the world - click here to read more.
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.