Dot.con : the greatest story ever sold

In 1945, Vannevar Bush, Franklin D. Roosevelt's chief scientific adviser, envisioned a desktop computer that would house all human knowledge, inspiring the scientists who later built the Internet. The early 1990s saw a transformation of the Internet from a scientific curiosity into a massive gold rush, thanks to the British programmer who created the World Wide Web and an Illinois student who developed a user-friendly browser. John Cassidy, a leading financial journalist, recounts the stories of Netscape, Yahoo!, America Online, and Amazon.com, among others, in a vibrant narrative that explores the rise of Internet stocks and a new stock market culture following the Cold War. He illustrates how a coalition of entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, venture capitalists, stock analysts, and investment bankers turned a groundbreaking technological advancement into a volatile speculative bubble. Cassidy also highlights the role of journalists and policymakers, notably Alan Greenspan, in prolonging this bubble. Ultimately, he argues that the responsibility for the Internet boom and bust is collective, involving millions of Americans. Now, the nation faces the consequences of its greed and wishful thinking. Blending storytelling, history, and economics, Cassidy provides a comprehensive account of this significant financial saga.