Author: Fred Merrick White / Year: (1859–1935) / Genre: Short StoriesHow a Stock Exchange Scare Dislocated the Life of the Empire For Two Days, a story in the "Doom of London" series
in which the author sounds the clarion call of potential disasters that my befall the great city. Here,
it is the tale of an investment "bubble", an irrational exuberance for buying shares of South African gold mining stocks. Excerpts:
"From the highest to the lowest everybody was investing their savings in South Africa. ...
In other words, there was a tremendous 'boom.' Nothing like it had ever been seen in
the history of commerce. It was the golden hour of the promoter. Yet, for the most part,
the schemes promised well. There was, however, an enormous amount of rubbish on the market.
Some of the more thoughtful financiers scented danger ahead, but they were not listened to.
