A Brief History of Financial Bubbles

The current economic crisis is a classic example of a financial bubble, wherein large numbers of people attempt to get rich quickly, and thereby end up going bankrupt simultaneously.  This short course will shed light on that process by examining other financial bubbles that have risen and burst since the birth of capitalism in the 1600s, and comparing our current situation to these historical bubbles.  As we look at these historical examples, we will also review some of the current economic theory regarding financial markets and see how well the theory stands up to the reality of financial bubbles.

We will examine several historical incidents of manic speculation (a bubble) followed by the collapse of the bubble and subsequent depression of the general economy. We will use Edward Chancellor's Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation for our basic historical account, but participants will not be expected to have read te book in advance. Working from the raw historical accounts, we will also examine these incidents from the perspectives of theory and macroeconomics, contrasting Keynesian, Chicago and Austrian perspectives. You will gain an understanding of the common elements in the rise and collapse of speculative bubbles and how those common elements displayed themselves in particular speculative bubbles, from the South Sea Islands bubble of the 1700s to the mortgage crisis of today.

John Fay:  After a career in corporate publishing for firms ranging from McGraw-Hill to Lucent Technologies to the University of California, John Fay has earned a Master's degree in Economics from San José State University.  He finds that a sense of humor is very helpful in grasping modern economic concepts.

Suggested reading:  Edward Chancellor's Devil Take the Hindmost.  You will not be expected to have read the book in advance.  Working from the raw historical accounts, we will also examine these incidents from the perspectives of theory and macroeconomics, contrasting Keynesian, Chicago, and Austrian perspectives.