IN PRAISE OF BUBBLES: Boom and bust cycles have always driven the US economy

摘要

Financial bubbles get a bum rap. People focus on the sob stories (think of the grandmothers who invested in Pets.com) and the tales of financial chicanery (think WorldCom). But bubbles - those sudden, excessive, and seemingly irrational investment stampedes - aren't all bad. Sure, they tend to follow a painful cycle of boom, bust, hand-wringing, and abject humiliation. But there's often another step at the end: innovation. Over the past 150 years, many bursting bubbles have paved the way for economic and cultural progress.