This year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics is Jean Tirole. Tirole is best known as someone who has formalised (in a mathematical sense) key concepts in microeconomics and industrial organisation. Click here to read Tyler Cowen's comprehensive post on Tirole's contribution to economics. Tirole played a large role in my education. I read / studied two of his books during my graduate studies - The Theory of Industrial Organization (1988) and The Prudential Regulation of Banks (1994). Notably, both of these books have stood the test of time - as will his book The Theory of Corporate Finance (2006).
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.