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.
- 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.
- Ephemeral market fluctuations which have an outsized or undue effect on how capital assets are valued by markets.
- Memetic booms and busts which are not always grounded in reason.
- 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.
- The willingness of lending institutions which fund professional speculators.