[conistonwater]

It's very modern of them to assume that a speculative bubble would cause collapse of industry and that it's remarkable that it didn't. The whole relationship between "some people default on loans" and "some other people lose jobs" is a relatively modern type of financial crisis, starting in late 19th century. In a way, it's a curious introduction to macroeconomics, the apparent puzzle that when one person is unable to repay a debt, why does another person somewhere else lose their job? I think they missed an opportunity there to write a little bit more about it, it would explain why people should still care about bubbles.