Adam Ruins Everything Explains How The Dutch Lost It Over Tulips



The first economic bubble sprang from tulip bulbs in 1630. Why did so many people lose their ability to reason over a flower? Adam takes us through a fun, colorful guided history of the “Tulipmania” that gripped the Dutch in the 17th century. Tulips were a new commodity when they were introduced to the Netherlands, and as such, they fast became a status symbol that everyone wanted in on. The rarer the tulip, the better and the more outlandish the price; here they’re described as “the Dutch version of limited edition Beanie Babies.” (We know how the speculative Beanie Baby market turned out.) Because of the unique nature of how tulips grow, people began to purchase not the actual bulb itself but a contract promising it in the future—effectively, a futures contract. This lead to wild financial speculation, contracts constantly changing hands, and eventually full-blown “Tulipmania!”

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