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A DISSERTATION ON TULIPS
AND AMERICA ONLINE
More than 350 years ago, a passion to possess beautiful tulip blossoms,
commonly referred to as the “tulip mania,” took hold in Holland. This chapter
documents a present-day equivalent price of the amount paid for a typical tulip
bulb in Holland during the height of this tulip mania. As unbelievable as it now
sounds, careful examination of pricing records from 17th century Holland
confirms that many otherwise sensible persons “invested” the present-day equiv-
alent of roughly $35,000 in the purchase of a single tulip bulb. That $35,000 price
for a single tulip bulb is not a misprint. It is a crazy price to ...