The fundamental lesson of a speculative bubble is that behavior that seems rational at the individual level can lead to collective insanity. Trapped in the logic of herd behavior, Wall Street will inevitably keep inflating the bubble until it bursts. It is up to journalists and government officials to try to maintain sanity, but in this case neither proved up to the task. Despite some honorable exceptions, the overall standard of reporting on the Internet stock phenomenon was dismal. In many cases, CNBC being only the most obvious example, the media became an active participant in the bubble,
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