Why Did Tulip Mania Fail?
When a Flower Cost More Than a House
📜 What Happened
At the peak of Dutch tulip mania, a single Semper Augustus bulb traded for the price of an Amsterdam canal house. Farmers mortgaged land for bulbs; contracts changed hands ten times a day in tavern 'colleges'; everyone knew someone getting rich. In February 1637, at a routine auction, the bids simply... didn't come. Prices collapsed 99% in weeks. The bulbs still grew perfectly good tulips — it was only the story that died.
☠️ The Fatal Mistake
Buying not the thing but the greater fool expected behind you — and the fools, being finite, eventually ran out.
🧠 The Lesson (Free for You)
Every generation gets its tulips, renamed. When the asset's price has fully detached from its use, you're no longer investing — you're playing musical chairs and calling it vision.
📕 The Antidote Book
Financial success is not a hard science — it's a soft skill where behavior trumps intelligence. A janitor who buys and holds can die worth $8 million while a Harvard-educated executive goes bankrupt. Housel's 19 short…
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