Alan Greenspan was halfway through a speech on December 5, 1996 when he asked if markets were displaying “irrational exuberance” – two words that triggered a precipitous correction in global stocks.
The chairman of the Federal Reserve was speaking at a time when the Nasdaq had doubled in two years and the S&P 500 was up 60 per cent and trading at a then eye-popping 18 times earnings.
Luke KinsellaReporterLuke Kinsella is a journalist based in The Australian Financial Review’s Sydney office. He was previously a policy analyst at Treasury. Email Luke at luke.kinsella@nine.com.au
