In section 12.5, Keynes expands on the factors which contribute to the precariousness of our long-term expectations of prospective yield of capital goods.

  1. The fact that, over time, a greater percentage of enterprises are owned remotely by people without direct experiences in relevant fields of practice, i.e. people who cannot as well ascertain domain-specific value.
  2. Ephemeral market fluctuations which have an outsized or undue effect on how capital assets are valued by markets.
  3. Memetic booms and busts which are not always grounded in reason.
  4. The predominance of professional speculators who engage not in reasoned long-term appraisal of actual value of capital assets, but instead just try to out-guess the market.
  5. The willingness of lending institutions which fund professional speculators.