It is difficult to assess how much this gambling spirit is active in the minds of individual investors. If it is, even to a small degree, it is relevant to our discussion since it makes investors prone to imitation and herding because they invest on little information. It may also explain the anomalously large volatility of prices and their potential instabilities.

Chapter 4, Positive Feedbacks, p. 114. - Why Stock Markets Crash - Critical Events in Complex Systems (2003)