My copy of Barry Eichengreen's Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses - and Misuses - of History arrived last Saturday morning. In this book, Eichengreen draws parallels between the Great Depression and the Great Recession. He also shows how the history of the Great Depression has been used and misused in dealing with the Great Recession. Below is a video where Eichengreen is interviewed about his new book.
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.