Over the five years from the end of 1994 to the end of 1999, prices of nontech stocks tripled while those of tech stocks more than quintupled.3 Correspondingly, the average level of real investment in computers and other high-tech capital goods was more than 100 percent higher over the 1995-99 period than its level during 1994, while spending on other types of fixed capital was only about 15 percent higher than in 1994.
Asset-price busts By definition, an asset-price bust is preceded by an asset-price boom. If a run-up reflects a bubble, the ensuing price bust could obviously be viewed as its bursting. Alternatively, asset prices may have been driven up by expectations of a productivity boom, which would lead to improved earnings.