But that's always been the nature of capital - there are no returns without risk. Capital's always been a bet on the uncertain future - the whole reason we have the concept of a modern corporation is so that risk can be spread across lots of people who can afford to lose the money they put up.

The percentage of investors who lost their shirt in the Industrial Revolution dwarfs those who lost their shirt in the dot-com boom. It's just that everybody who went broke investing in a refinery or mining scheme that was just snake oil dropped out of the history books, and we only hear about the people who got fabulous wealthy.