Dutch 'tulip mania' wasn't the reckless economy-wide bubble the legend claims

In the winter of 1636-37, prices for rare tulip bulbs in the Dutch Republic spiked and then collapsed within weeks, and the episode became history's default shorthand for market madness. Historian Anne Goldgar's archival research found the actual trading circle was small and wealthy, many contracts were never even paid out, and the crash caused nowhere near the economic ruin the later legend describes.

— Anne Goldgar, Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age — University of Chicago Press, 2007
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