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Public
Assoc for Scottish Literature

“its power as a starter in crowd psychology comes from Mackay’s insistence on humanising the follies he describes. No macroeconomic constructs here – just good old greed, optimism, superstition & cunning plans”

—Charles Mackay (1814–1889) was born , 27 March – best remembered today for his 1841 book Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds

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peterharrington.co.uk/blog/the

#Scottish#literature#19thcentury
Public
Assoc for Scottish Literature

“Charles Mackay's book … enjoys extraordinarily high renown in the financial industry and among the press and the public. It also has an extraordinarily low reputation among historians. […] Mackay’s story provides another example of a renowned expert on bubbles who decides that ‘this time is different.’”

—Andrew Odlyzko, SSRN, 26 Feb 2011
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papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf

Charles Mackay's Own Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Railway Mania Andrew Odlyzko Abstract Charles Mackay's book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" enjoys extraordinarily high renown in the financial industry and among the press and the public. It also has an extraordinarily low reputation among historians. This paper argues that Mackay's sins of commission were dwarfed by his sins of omission. He lived through several giant investment manias in Britain, yet he did not discuss them in his books. An investigation of Mackay's newspaper writings shows that he was one of the most ardent cheerleaders for the Railway Mania, the greatest and most destructive of these episodes of extreme investor exuberance. Mackay's story provides another example of a renowned expert on bubbles who decides that "this time is different." His moves through a sequence of delusions help explain the length and damage of the Railway Mania. He was a free market and technology enthusiast, and faced many issues that are important today, such as government ownership or regulation, interconnection, standardization, structural separation, and analogs to net neutrality. A crushing national debt and high unemployment in an economy pulling out of a deep depression (and in perceived danger of falling into another one) were very important in shaping attitudes towards railway expansion. The analogies and contrasts between Mackay's time and ours are instructive.
#Scottish#literature#19thcentury
Assoc for Scottish Literature

“Mackay’s masterwork sets out in crystalline and quotable prose how men and women throughout history have been hustled, scammed, bamboozled and willingly led astray by themselves or others.”

—Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds is available as a free ebook from @gutenberg_org

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gutenberg.org/ebooks/24518

Project GutenbergMemoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by MackayFree kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.
#Scottish#literature#19thcentury
Mar 27, 2025, 12:27 PM·Public·Web
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