Is a New Bigger Bubble Coming?

John Authers

“Without due recognition of crowd-thinking (which often seems crowd-madness) our theories of economics leave much to be desired. It is a force wholly impalpable—perhaps little amenable to analysis and less to guidance—and yet, knowledge of it is necessary to right judgments on passing events.”

Bernard Baruch, writing in 1934¹

The 2009 rally was the most impressive in a century, but the signs of perverse synchronization were alarming—forex, equity, credit, and commodity markets moved in alignment, forcing some countries to try to push their currencies down and leading to record gold prices. Many feared an incipient bubble.

The global stock market rally that started in March 2009 was the most impressive ...