A Word on Inflation and Market Psychology
In addition to many other contributing factors of inflation or deflation, a very great factor is the psychological. The fact that people think prices are going to advance or decline very much contributes to their movement, and the very momentum of the trend itself tends to perpetuate itself.
–Gerald M. Loeb, from The Battle for Investment Survival (1996, John Wiley & Sons, New York), originally published in 1935.