Tulip Mania

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Colorful tulips (Tulipa) in flower.

© Jasenka Arbanas—Moment/Getty Images

The Dutch Tulip Bubble (“Tulip Mania”) was a speculative frenzy in 17th-century Holland over the sale of tulip bulbs. Tulips were introduced into Europe from Turkey shortly after 1550, and the delicately formed, vividly colored flowers became a popular if costly item. The demand for differently colored varieties of tulips soon exceeded the supply, and prices for individual bulbs of rare types began to rise to unwarranted heights in northern Europe.

By about 1610 a single bulb of a new variety was acceptable as dowry for a bride, and a flourishing brewery in France was exchanged for one bulb of the variety Tulipe Brasserie. The bubble reached its height in Holland during 1633–37. Before 1633, Holland’s tulip trade had been restricted to professional growers and experts, but the steadily rising prices tempted many ordinary middle-class and poor families to speculate in the tulip market. Homes, estates, and industries were mortgaged so that bulbs could be bought for resale at higher prices. Sales and resales were made many times over without the bulbs ever leaving the ground, and rare varieties of bulbs sold for the equivalent of hundreds of dollars each.

The crash came early in 1637, when doubts arose as to whether prices would continue to increase. Almost overnight the price structure for tulips collapsed, sweeping away fortunes and leaving behind financial ruin for many ordinary Dutch families.

The tulip craze was an early example of the greater fool theory—the willingness to buy an asset not because of its fundamental value but because of the belief that someone else is likely to pay an even higher price than you did.