Authers' Note below has an interview with BNP Paribas's William De Vijlder about the ECB's announcement last week regarding its package of 400bn euros of cheap long-term loans (targeted longer-term refinancing operations or TLTROs) which banks can use to lend to small businesses (ECB press release 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.