The Dutch Tulip Crisis is one of the most well known economic & historical events and is taught at countless business schools across the world. Known as Tulip Mania, the Dutch Tulip Crisis is a story of a wildly speculative bubble that offers a plethora of valuable lessons to be learned through the ages.

In 17th century Netherlands a virus infected the local tulip crops which caused the flowers to produce colorful patterns when in full bloom, as opposed to the solid colors tulips are typically known for. This caused the price of tulip bulbs to skyrocket, causing tulip bulbs to be used as currency. Following this stark upward trend, a sudden collapse ensued, creating what is regarded as the first speculative bubble in history.

Here are seven valuable lessons we can learn from Tulip mania.

1. Be wary of speculative bubbles: Tulip Mania serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of speculative bubbles. When prices rise rapidly based on hype and speculation, it is often only a matter of time before that bubble bursts. As seen with Tulip Mania, many people lost enormous percentages of their wealth due to the crash in price of tulip bulbs.
2. Human psychology plays an undeniable role in financial markets: Tulip Mania demonstrates how greed and fear, coupled with herd mentality can lead to significant price volatility and contribute to the formation of bubbles.
3. Supply and demand drives price: At its fundamental level, the story of Tulip Mania is a lesson on supply and demand. The sudden high demand for tulip bulbs, combined with their limited supply, drove prices to unprecedented heights.
4. Value is subjective: This period in history showcases how the perceived value of an asset can be highly subjective. Today, virtually no one would accept tulip bulbs as currency, however the exorbitant prices paid for tulip bulbs were not based on any objective measure of their worth but rather on their perceived value. Future civilizations might look to fiat currency is a similar light.
5. Always include fundamental factors in your analysis: While speculation and hype played a significant role in the tulip crisis, numerous fundamental factors, such as production costs and supply constraints were also important drivers of price movements.
6. Transparency and regulation are critical: The tulip crisis occurred in an era of limited transparency and regulation, which allowed for morally ambiguous traders to manipulate the market.
7. Diversification is key: Many of the investors who lost money during the Dutch Tulip Crisis had invested heavily in tulip bulbs, without diversifying their portfolios. As the saying goes: “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Diversification can help to mitigate risk.

The Dutch Tulip Crisis continues to be taught across universities for a reason — its lessons are timeless. All forms of investing include a measure of risk, and tulip bulbs were no exception.