An analysis of the inflated business potential of the Internet.

Why do stock and housing markets sometimes experience amazing booms followed by massive busts and why is this happening more and more frequently? In order to answer these questions, William Quinn and John D. Turner take us on a riveting ride through the history of financial bubbles, visiting, among other places, Paris and London in 1720, Latin America in the 1820s, Melbourne in the 1880s, New York in the 1920s, Tokyo in the 1980s, Silicon Valley in the 1990s and Shanghai in the 2000s. As they do so, they help us understand why bubbles happen, and why some have catastrophic economic, social and political consequences whilst others have actually benefited society. They reveal that bubbles start when investors and speculators react to new technology or political initiatives, showing that our ability to predict future bubbles will ultimately come down to being able to predict these sparks.

This is a sceptical history of the internet/stock market boom. John Cassidy argues that what we have just witnessed wasn't simply a stock market bubble; it was a social and cultural phenomenon driven by broad historical forces. Cassidy explains how these forces combined to produce the buying hysteria that drove the prices of loss-making companies into the stratosphere. Much has been made of Alan Greenspan's phrase irrational exuberance, but Cassidy shows that there was nothing irrational about what happened. The people involved - fund managers, stock analysts, journalists and pundits - were simply acting in their own self-interest.

A comprehensive history of market-shaping industries and their impact on how we invest today This engaging book highlights the history of industrial development and its impact on investors. Today's investors will learn about past approaches to technological advances such as-electricity, the railroad, the telephone, the computer, and much more-while gaining insights on how to appraise the "new technology" companies of the future. This complete and well researched history of industries and investing wouldn't be complete without a look at: how Thomas Edison lost control of his company, the impact of the Standard Oil breakup, the early days of the wireless industry, and the changing face of the computer industry today. Investors looking for industry-shaping investments will undoubtedly use Engines That Move Markets as their guide.

“An interesting take on some factors that facilitate the development and bursting of bubbles in technology industries. . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice Financial market bubbles are recurring, often painful, reminders of the costs and benefits of capitalism. While many books have studied financial manias and crises, most fail to compare times of turmoil with times of stability. In Bubbles and Crashes, Brent Goldfarb and David A. Kirsch give us new insights into the causes of speculative booms and busts. They identify a class of assets—major technological innovations—that can, but does not necessarily, produce bubbles. This methodological twist is essential: Only by comparing similar events that sometimes lead to booms and busts can we ascertain the root causes of bubbles. Using a sample of eighty-eight technologies spanning 150 years, Goldfarb and Kirsch find that four factors play a key role in these episodes: the degree of uncertainty surrounding a particular innovation; the attentive presence of novice investors; the opportunity to directly invest in companies that specialize in the technology; and whether or not a technology is a good protagonist in a narrative. Goldfarb and Kirsch consider the implications of their analysis for technology bubbles that may be in the works today, offer tools for investors to identify whether a bubble is happening, and propose policy measures that may mitigate the risks associated with future speculative episodes.

"Wall Street newsletters come and go, but Grant's Interest Rate Observer has gone on and on. It has enlightened, enriched and provoked Wall Streets most successful investors every two weeks for the past 25 years. Its thousands of readers treasure it not only for its insights and analysis, but also for its clarity and wit." "This special anniversary collection of Grant's articles traces the tumultuous events of Americas bubble era: from the dot-com boom of the late 1990s to the house-price levitation of the early 2000s to the subsequent worldwide mortgage collapse. The essays contained herein make up no armchair history, but a living record comprised in the heat of events. They chronicle what happened and why - and what, in editor Grant's best judgment, was likely to happen down the road."--BOOK JACKET.

Research on consumption can shed light on many fundamental questions, such as the character of society, including social and cultural dimensions; the relations between the generations; dependency on technology and the risks involved; the rise of Asia and its potential consumption preferences; the question of whether we must continuously increase our consumption to avoid a recession and whether this is ecologically sustainable. In the field of consumption research there is need for analytical rigor based on theory and empirical evidence as well as discussions that will inspire readers to ask important questions regarding future development. The contributors to this innovative volume are scholars and experts in the field of consumption representing a variety of disciplines such as anthropology, economics, history, marketing, political science, and sociology. This book not only provides readers with a nuanced picture of consumption, but intends to enrich and sharpen the general debate about society today.

The authors challenge this view here and develop two alternative interpretations. Both are based on the notion that a bubble (the "dot-com" bubble) has been driving the stock market, but differ in their assumptions about the interactions between this bubble and fiscal policy (the "Bush" deficits). The "benevolent" view holds that a change in investor sentiment led to the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the Bush deficits were a welfare-improving policy response to this event. The "cynical" view holds instead that the Bush deficits led to the collapse of the dot-com bubble as the new administration tried to appropriate rents from foreign investors. The authors discuss the implications of each of these views for the future evolution of the U.S. economy and, in particular, its net foreign asset position."

America’s Bubble Economy is the first book to focus on several simultaneous financial bubbles that are interacting to temporarily boost—and ultimately threaten—the United States and world economies. Filled with expert analysis and straight talk, this book will show you how to turn the coming economic transformation into a once-in-a-lifetime wealth-building opportunity.