What was the name of the 1637 Dutch tulip-market collapse?

The 1637 Dutch tulip-market collapse is known as tulip mania. In the Dutch Republic, tulip bulbs became highly sought-after during the 1630s, and contracts for rare varieties were traded at increasingly high prices. The market reached a turning point in February 1637, when an auction at Haarlem reportedly failed to attract buyers.

Prices then fell sharply, leaving some traders unable or unwilling to complete contracts. The episode became a famous example of speculative excess and is frequently compared with later stock-market bubbles. However, historians debate its scale and social impact. Popular retellings sometimes claim that the entire Dutch economy was ruined, but surviving evidence does not support such an extreme conclusion.

Tulip mania was not a modern stock-market crash: tulip bulbs and contracts were the objects of speculation. Its importance lies in the early, well-known example it provides of prices being driven by expectations, imitation, and changing confidence.