Econ Journal Watch is an online journal which looks at economics in an unusual and helpfully provocative manner. The current issue asks the question: Does economics need an infusion of religion or quasi-religious formulations? There is a really interesting essay by Nicholas Taleb and Rupert Read which argues that religion performs a useful risk management function by transmitting risk-control heuristics across generations.
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.