CEMH Digital Talk: Andrew Odlyzko (Mathematics, University of Minnesota)

"Plagues, Financial Panics, and Collective Delusions"
Image related to the fallout from the South Sea Bubble Financial Scheme
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Title: Plagues, Financial Panics, and Collective Delusions

Abstract: The South Sea Bubble of 1720 was a gigantic investment mania in Britain.  It occurred in a post-truth environment of misinformation and disinformation, and featured a real plague. The central collective delusion that led to its rise and fall swept up people as brilliant as Isaac Newton.  It offers instructive lessons for modern times

Bio: Andrew Odlyzko has had a long career in research and research management at Bell Labs, AT&T Labs, and most recently at the University of Minnesota, where he was the first director of the Digital Technology Center, and is now a Professor in the School of Mathematics.  His current research is concentrated on financial history and technology bubbles.

Part of the Panic and Plague in 1720 and 2020 Lecture Series

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