A thesis from a VC who lived through the 1990s. I like the clear and simple exposition of how the economy developed from the 1930s to today. Though I'm left wondering if it is too simple.... A good read, nonetheless. - Sanjeev Singh

"There is one industry that fits the bill [of an impending bubble]: alternative energy, the development of more energy-efficient products, along with viable alternatives to oil, including wind, solar, and geothermal power, along with the use of nuclear energy to produce sustainable oil substitutes, such as liquefied hydrogen from water. Indeed, the next bubble is already being branded." If this turns out to be true, Denver/Boulder will be affected, with all our new alt energy companies sprouting up. - Ginger Makela Riker

@Ginger: What neighborhood do you live in? and can you name a couple of the new alt energy companies you are referring to? - Clare Dibble

"The capital-intensive biotechnology industry will not inflate, as it requires too much specialized intelligence." I'm guessing biotechnology is where this guy keep his money. As far as I can tell, alternative energy and biotech both have smart-ish people moving large amounts of fluid around. Both seem pretty capital intensive to me. Many of both have bio-something involved at some stage. And in my world, both get a lot of press. Do you perceive biotech as less bubble prone than alt energy? - Clare Dibble

I think most small biotech companies are extremely likely to go bust. The majority are based on one or two drugs that will eventually be replaced by generics, while they don't have the large amounts of money and manpower needed to ensure that they will find another "miracle" drug before that happens. In my opinion, only giant companies like Amgen and Genentech have a strong enough pipeline to keep the new drugs coming. - Shannon Jiménez

Clare, there are so many renewable energy companies, it's hard to keep up. Renewable Energy Systems (a wind firm) just moved HQ from Austin to Broomfield, CO. I cruise the Daily Camera's local biz section for companies: http://www.dailycamera.com/news... Also, the Rocky Mountain Institute is a cornerstone: http://www.rmi.org/ My husband and I live in Lowry, an urban in-fill project in east Denver. We would prefer to live in Boulder, but it's out of our price range. We like low overhead. - Ginger Makela Riker