The Little Book of Big Bubbles

Book excerpt: The Little Book of Big Bubbles - A History of Financial Greed and Collective Insanity. Whether it's tulips, real estate, or even Beanie Babies: asset bubbles are thought to inflate and pop without rhyme or reason. This is not true. Humans are greedy. We are susceptible to being deluded by our own collective insanity. We ignore the lessons of the past and make the same mistakes over and over. What are financial bubbles, and how do we navigate them? In this book, we explore ten of history's most significant bubbles and identify what they have in common to build a framework for recognising future ones. Chapters An Introduction The Roman Land Collapse (33 AD) The Dutch Tulipe Mania (1637) The South Sea Company (1720) The Mississippi Company (1720) US Land Panics (1819, 1837 and 1857) The Roaring '20s (1921-1929) The Japanese Asset Bubble (1986-1991) Beanie Babies (1995-1999) The Tech Bubble (1995-2000) The US Housing bubble (2005-2008) The Lessons of History The Author - Edmund Simms Value investor. Worked in hedge funds, mutual funds, venture capital, and as co-founder to three startups. No managing a private investment partnership and an equity research publication. Made in Australia but residing in London.