It is not surprising then that inflation started to take off. As bubbles typically do, Tulipmania consumed a wide cross-section of the Dutch population, and at its peak, some tulip bulbs commanded prices greater than the price of some houses.


"The Tulipmania: Fact or Artifact?" It may seem like ancient history now, but only because we know how the story ends. Next,  the real estate crash in 2008.

Inflation reached a monthly rate of 23 percent in January 1720. By September 1720 the price of shares in the company had fallen to 2,000 livres and to 1,000 by December. eBay (EBAY) and Yahoo both came before it, but this was the first one which showed how investors were going completely and totally nuts.That being said, there were earlier warning signs that something was going on.Few people remember it, but KTEL, the maker of cheesy music compilations, got caught up in it all earlier that year.K-Tel were unable to sustain the growth and profitability.
Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. Below are five of the biggest asset bubbles in history, three of which have occurred since the late 1980s.

These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. Stock prices began falling in January 1720 as some investors sold shares to turn capital gains into gold coin. As its directors circulated tall tales of unimaginable riches in the South Seas (present-day South America), shares of the company surged more than eightfold in 1720, from £128 in January to £1050 in June, before collapsing in subsequent months and causing a severe economic crisis.

The paper notes of the Bank Royale were made legal tender, which meant that they could be used to pay taxes and settle most debts. In the process, they formed large networks of collectors and dealers and got to know the products inside out.Gallagher, who wrote one of the earliest articles about the craze, eventually quit her job as a paralegal at her husband's law office when Beanies became a full-time obsession.In February 1997, she self-published "The Beanie Baby Phenomenon," a 52-page paperback priced at $24. Dot-com Bubble.

They blew everyone's mind, and ownership of them became a major status symbol for the elites.

The financial district in Paris became so agitated at times with investors that soldiers would be sent in at night to maintain order. The tulip was a conspirator in the supply squeeze: It takes seven years to grow one from seed. The dot-com is one of the most well known bubbles in living memory but also one of the strangest. Wikipedia has a great summary of it here, and also even has a price index of tulip bulbs.

Some experts believe that the bursting of the NASDAQ dot-com bubble led U.S. investors to pile into real estate due to the mistaken belief that real estate is a safer ''The colors they exhibited were more intense and more concentrated than those of ordinary plants.'' The bubble grew to bursting point between 1995 and 2001 with investment pouring into thousands of new internet firms, many practicing risky policies of growth over profit (brand building and networking in particular), believing that if they built up their customer bases rapidly enough then profits … Investors from across France and Europe eagerly played in this new market. And perhaps most important is that the five biggest historic bubbles, along with others along the way, hold valuable lessons that should be heeded by all investors. And while bulbs can produce two or three clones, or ''offsets,'' annually, the mother bulb only lasts a few years.The company issued shares for many different ventures, all promising great riches. Sign up now. The Dutch Tulip Bubble The Tulipmania that gripped Holland in the 1630s … You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our In the present day, asset bubbles sometimes are fuelled by overly stimulative