Part 3/8:
Going back to the 1700s in the Netherlands, the tulip craze presents an early example of market speculation run amok. Tulips, symbols of wealth in Calvinist society, became the subject of speculative contracts. Investors began purchasing "futures" for tulip bulbs, driving values to astronomical heights, sometimes exceeding a yearly salary. This frenzy, mostly propelled by speculation rather than genuine demand for tulips, ultimately led to a collapse when the excitement waned, revealing a fragile economic structure reliant on speculative contracts rather than tangible goods.