Thomas Paine
Decades of market action tell us that the longer a trend(or non-trend) is in place, the more confident investors become that the existing phase will continue. As this subconscious confidence grows, people often ignore the dangers ahead for fear of missing the trend that has now pervaded their workplace or neighborhood. Remember tech in the late 90's? Real estate in mid 2000's?
This reflexivity, as described by George Soros, generates a positive feedback cycle that eventually grabs hold of even rational folks, until there aren't enough late adopters to keep the cycle going. At this point, a correction of the excesses takes place until the market reaches a new state of equilibrium.
