1.   The boom has less to do with an ageing population than a growing interest from collectors and American tourists.

2.   All Latin American booms have had in common the conditions of excess global liquidity resulting in capital inflows, and high or stable commodity prices.

3.   But the boom has its downside.

4.   But that boom has a flip side, and a scarcity of workers may cut into the bare-bones profits of retailers.

5.   But the boom has dark sides.

6.   But this year, as has become painfully apparent, the dot-com boom has a backlash.

7.   Clearly, the population boom has much to do with how the far-flung descendents of the first Americans are finding their roots and choosing to describe themselves.

8.   Even the Dutch tulip-bulb boom now has academics who argue it was rational.

9.   Indeed, before the Reagan boom had run its course, a whole lot better.

10.   Just as the success of Silicon Valley spurred plenty of knock-offs, the boom in biotech has different parts of the world scrambling to rename their regions.