Irrational optimism in a declining industry: Sir Adam Beck's interurban railway proposal

Sir Adam Beck, best known for his advocacy of publicly owned electric utilities, in 1920 sought to build a network of electric interurban railways in southern Ontario. Such 'interurbans,' often referred to as 'radials' in Ontario, were essentially long-distance trolleys and would have been entirely separate from conventional railways. Beck failed to recognize that the interurban industry was already in a state of decline by 1920, and the resulting controversy pit Beck against Ernest Drury, Premier of Ontario, who successfully blocked the plan. Beck's proposal illustrates the phenomenon of irrationally optimistic responses to the decline of an industry.