> You could literally rewrite the quote to be about iron and about building railroads for trains and passengers that don't exist yet. See how silly that would be?
Couldn't possibly happen with railroads!
https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2016/02/crisis...
My point is, railroads turned into a real thing. The demand was real and the general large-scale investment was justified.
Just because some companies made bad decisions doesn't mean the railroad industry as a whole was some kind of mirage or mistake. Laying down tracks for trains and passengers that didn't exist yet is still necessary.