The Optical Networking Industry (A) (B)

The Internet revolution burst on the scene, bringing new industries and overhauling existing ones. With the stock market euphoria of 1999 and early 2000, it seemed these tech-oriented firms could do no wrong. In fact, in 2000, despite the reservations of certain analysts who downgraded the stock of Nortel and Cisco, their share prices continued to rise. But with the arrival of the stock market downturn, even an industry with as bright a future as optical networking was not immune. How did such a promising industry see its fortunes reveres with such alacrity? Dr. Marie Carpenter and Professor William Lazonick pose some important questions concerning the growing importance of the role of the stock market in the optical networking industry and provide rich material for debate.