Tulips, Facebook and Twitter

A tulip, known as "the Viceroy", displayed in a 1637 Dutch catalog. Its bulb cost between 3000 and 4200 florins depending on size. A skilled craftsman at the time earned about 300 florins a year

At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble.

More recently the dotcom bubble

Today Adam reads of Facebook valued at 30% more than in January, now US$65 billion and Twitter having a value of $7.7 billion.

Short memories, greed, stupidity or all 3?

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