"Rational Apathy"

The original title was "What the opposite of Irrational Exuberance" (thanks Tahoe):

Floyd Norris reports:

Another stock market milestone was reached last week, when the S.&P. 500 fell under the Dec. 5, 1996, close of 744.38. The Dow, for what it is worth, is still above the 6,437.10 level it sported then.

(As I write this, the S.&P. is at 714 and the Dow at 6,880.)

That night Alan Greenspan uttered his legendary “irrational exuberance” comment. It was actually a question:

”How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they have in Japan over the past decade?”