This study is a theoretical and historical study of the combined issues of destabilizing speculation and financial crises. First, we critically examine the orthodox mathematical theory of a speculative bubble. This model, we determine, is inadequate for the empirical purposes of identifying and fully explaining a bubble. Next, we examine the 19th-century British Classical view of the mania-crisis phenomenon and compare it with some of the leading early 20th-century views. We find that the 20th-century writers maintained a distinctly Classical view of the issues and that this view is fundamentally different from the orthodox mathematical theory. We also find that the Classical theory, though richer than the mathematical theory, inadequately explains the phenomenon. We then turn to a comparative history of selected mania-crisis episodes. From a detailed analysis of these episodes, we establish those stylized facts which characterize unstable periods of financial activity. We complete the study with a new perspective on financial instability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41138 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Spotton, Brenda L. (Brenda Lynn) |
| Contributors | Rowley, J. C. R. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Economics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001346916, proquestno: NN87894, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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