How High Demand for Dutch Tulips in 17th Century Led to the Practice of Futures Market Speculation

In botanical episode of Adam Ruins Everything, an animated Adam Conover explains the origins of tulip mania, the status tulips offered to Dutch gentry in the 17th century and specifically how such high demand for tulip bulb led to to the origins of futures market speculation.

In the 1630s tulip prices began to rise and then prices went from high to completely insane, partly because of a unique feature of tulips. See tulips only bloom in the spring the rest of the year the flowers turned back into bulbs and can be resold, but when they’re flowering that can’t be moved. But that didn’t stop people from wanting to buy them, so instead of buying the tulip itself they buy a contract that when they would get the tulip in the future