The Impact of External Pressures on the Economy

During the 1880s, Melbourne's average annual return on land was 39.8%. And then the crash happens, beginning around 1890. What causes the crash? Well, I mean, the causation is still a hotly disputed question among economic historians. We were over-investing in things that were going to produce returns only in the long term. The investment pattern had got out of sink and meant that the whole economy was subject to structural weakness.