Charles Kindleberger
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NBER Working Paper No. 10847
Issued in October 2004
NBER Program(s): CF
Minimalist economists stubbornly resist Charles Kindleberger's characterization of investor expectations in a financial bubble as "irrational." This paper seeks to resolve the controversy by imbedding Kindleberger's well-researched, impressionistic theory of financial crises into an expanded, but still-minimalist model of rational expectations. Introducing the concepts of malicious disinformation and rational overpromotion creates an informational environment in which it is time-consuming and costly to distinguish fact from fiction. Rationality still requires that expectations and market fundamentals move together over long periods of time, but dishonorable overpromoters can earn substantial profits in the interim.
Published: Kane, Edward J. "Charles Kindleberger: An Impressionist In A Minimalist World," Atlantic Economic Journal, v33(1,Mar), 2005, 35-42.
This paper is available as PDF (164 K) or via email.
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