Campbell Gorrie, the market anaylst and Ord Minnett, contends that investment booms, or bubbles, have characterisitcs that are repeated through the generations.

"Bubbles emerge, he suggests, when there is an element of novelty about the target sector and a belief by the individual investors that they mostly understand the industry, if not completely. "They believe they have enough knowledge in a general sense to indicate that it is a new, broad wave of the future, a new industry, that is arising, that will bring boundless wealth for decades to come," he said.

There must be "a sufficient lack of clarity" about the true financial condition of the industries or companies involved, and perhaps vagueness about the regulatory environment. And there must be some element of "mystery" so that people suspend their belief in fundamentals for at least a short period."

Even rational people who are well above the voting age will succumb to mysteries," he said."

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