This paper deals with some issues that recently arised from the puzzling
evolution of Stock Markets during the nineties, in particular from the sharp
increase of equity prices on the Nasdaq. We examine the hypothesis according
to which such a bullish market could be explained by investors’ increasingly
optimistic expectations about the ‘New economy’ perspectives. We then
analyse to what extent the evolution of financial markets may have recently
affected aggregate demand in a stronger way than in the past. Using a simple
aggregate model with rational expectations, we finally show how monetary
policy decisions should be influenced by such changes in the behaviour of
investors and consumers.