Panic of 1873

  They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
  They pursued it with forks and hope;
  They threatened its life with a railway-share;
  They charmed it with smiles and soap.

Fits well with the release of Hunting of the Snark 1876 by Lewis Carroll

There are certainly many parallels with our current situation. But railroads were a much bigger segment of the economy then. AI's growth is benefitting a narrower set of people, so I find unlikely that the inevitable collapse of AI investment alone, absent other factors, could wreck the global economy the same way.

Quoting the article:

> A boom in railroad construction, 33,000 miles (53,000 km) of track were laid across the country between 1868 and 1873.

> The railroad industry was the largest employer outside of agriculture and involved large amounts of money and risk. A large infusion of cash from speculators caused spectacular growth in the industry and in the construction of docks, factories, and ancillary facilities. Most capital was involved in projects offering no immediate or early returns.

Sounds like the AI bubble.

> After 1850 two banking institutions issued 70% of global bonds, the Rothschild family and the Barings Bank.

> On 9 May 1873, the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed because it was unable to sustain the bubble of false expansion, insolvencies, and dishonest manipulations.

well lets not do those things again shall we

Can someone explain what the leading sentence means? Why is it written like this?

> ... lasted from 1873 to 1877, continuing until 1879 ...

Isn't that just "lasted from 1873 to 1879".

Or is it written that way intentionally?

Why do people sell catastrophes?

Bitcoin, or the AI bubble, or Peak Oil, or some panic or collapse?

No doubt something's going to fail, but I have zero confidence in the ability to predict any of it.

My prediction: they're all wrong.