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To: Tommaso who wrote (92050)	7/9/2001 12:11:04 AM
From: Roebear	Respond to of 95453

Tommaso, The thing I liked about the railroad historical perspective (and I like RCA and Auto in the 20's also) was this factor. Both in the English Railroad boom of the 1840's and the US one of the late 1860-70's the stocks were sold to speculators and citizens who provided the funds for an overexpansion of transportation infrastructure. This overexpansion resulted in competition in the transportation industry resulting in lower rates. Hence both countries received the best transportation infrastructure in the world at that time and also low costs associated with it. This allowed for long term growth and economic good for the countries after the short term (3-10 years) pain of bubble bursting. Of course many middle class fortunes did not survive the bubble busting. This brings to mind the internet/telecom/tech buildup and subsequent bust in the US in the 90's, hence the preference for those examples, which are of course echoes of the canal booms before and echoed in turn by the radio/auto boom of the 20's. Best Regards, Roebear

To: Tommaso who wrote (92050)	7/11/2001 1:37:05 PM
From: Roebear	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Tommaso, Just pulled the excerpt out of a newsletter, thought it was interesting as it referenced the railroad bubbles we were talking about back on the 8th: Michael E. Lewitt, an astute hedge fund manager I know, observed recently, "By the late 1870s, an abundance of cheap financing led to a doubling of railroad mileage...Two fifths of railroad bonds subsequently defaulted. Sound familiar? Maybe it is an historical accident that thousands upon thousands of miles of dark fiber-optic cable were laid along railroad lines." Or maybe it is simply poetry. Best, Roebear