When I started my academic career, data projectors were huge and required two technicians to set them up. The entire Faculty had one data projector which had to be moved from venue to venue. I was one of the first academics to use PowerPoint. I was one of the innovators. Once high-speed internet and internet capacity expanded, PowerPoint lecture slides could go up onto the Web for students to download and digest. However, PowerPoint, has many downsides. This Slate presentation provides an amusing and insightful look at the misuse of PowerPoint in universities.
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.