The real burst bubble wasn't dot-coms
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But more than a few jaws dropped when WorldCom noted that it would write down the value of its property, plant and equipment and other intangible assets to $10 billion from $44.8 billion. That meant that WorldCom’s hard assets, including its network, are now worth almost 75 percent less than what they had cost. And don’t forget, these assets were bought with actual cash, not highflying shares.So let’s follow the money. Worldcom overpaid thirty billion dollars. Where did that money come from? From cash flow, i.e. from customers’ monthly checks? Borrowed from banks? Borrowed from the stock market? Where did it go? A lot of construction workers got paid to dig ditches. Raw materials, parts, and salaries at Lucent, Cisco, etc. People who cashed out of telecom suppliers before 2001. What fraction of all this was a wealth transfer from one class of investors to another?