In light of the stormy events in the current financial business, Joseph Vogl addresses the perceptions, theories, and problem situations of what can still rightly be called capitalism. Financial markets, in particular, are considered the quintessential market phenomenon: Unburdened by the challenges of production, they serve as arenas of perfect competition and ideal economic equilibrium processes according to the prevailing economic doctrine: a beneficial interplay of profit-oriented and thus both rational and reliable actors. Therefore, one sought to recognize mere adjustment crises or those exceptional situations in speculative bubbles and crashes that stem from the irrational exuberance of perhaps greedy, perhaps incompetent, or simply reckless speculative entities. This is where the questions of the essay begin: Are the irrational exuberances real?.