Tulip mania wasn't that big of a deal

Yeah I don’t know why people keep bringing up this mostly exaggerated episode of capitalism’s flaws when there are plenty of more recent examples of speculative bubbles you can use. Especially since 1630s Holland was not very much of a capitalist economy, as most people would not have been engaged in market relations in order to make living, as they were subsistence farmers. Plus the small number of people engaged in commerce weren’t really capitalists, since they were trading merchants rather than producing commodities for profit. Dutch wealth lay in its domination of European trade through its merchant marine rather than Dutch exporting goods to foreign markets.

It’s still a proto capitalist economic crisis for it’s structural similarities to our current ones, but you have to wait for late 18th century England to see economic crises that actually have the widespread social impact (like unemployment) we’re familiar with.

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