Tulipomania
Anyone who has studied economics or markets in general has heard of the great tulip mania in Holland in the 17th century. It was chronicled in a now legendary nine-page chapter in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.The mania for tulips was so extreme that, at it's peak, a single bulb was sold for the equivalent of twenty years of a merchant's average income, or forty years for a regular worker. There are incidents on record where tulips were actually traded for houses.
When the bubble burst, tulips lost 90% of their market value (or, in many cases, became worthless) within a matter of days.
It's an incredible story, and I've always regretted not being able to read about it in more detail. Recently, though, I stumbled on a book called Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused, which is a tremendously detailed story of the history of tulips in general as well as the the Dutch craze in particular.
If you ever wanted more detail on this period in history, this book is absolutely jammed with information. As an example, here's some detail on how much single bulbs were really worth at the peak of the market. Single bulbs of certain highly-coveted varieties were sold for more than 5,000 guilders. Many were sold for more than 3,000 guilders, and here's what 3000 guilders could have bought you at the time:
Eight fat pigs
Four fat oxen
Twelve fat sheep
Twenty-four tons of wheat
Forty-eight tons of rye
Two hogsheads of wine
Four barrels of 8-guilder beer
Two tons of butter
A thousand pounds of cheese
A silver drinking cup
A pack of clothes
A bed with mattress and bedding
A ship
It's all stunning, and there were many, many moments as I read the book when I saw a fact that just amazed me. If you enjoy reading about markets, or history, or just human nature, then this book is an absolutely tremendous read.
Here's an Amazon link, if you're interested: Tulipomania.
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