LETTER
How a Flower Crashed an Economy
One of the first documented, and in my opinion most bizarre bubbles, in history happened in Holland in the 1600’s. Believe it or not, in the 1600’s tulips became so popular they became more valuable than gold. Tulips had recently been introduced to Europe and became a coveted luxury item. At the height of the “tulip bubble” in 1637, it was said that a single tulip bulb was worth more than 10-times the average income of a skilled worker…
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Plain Language Economics, Explaining “Demand”

People decide what they want to buy based on a number of factors that include personal taste, their level of income, prices and even government intervention. All of these things impact the “quantity demanded” of a particular item. Let’s quickly tackle these factors one at a time and make them a bit more relatable. For the purposes of talking about “demand” I will use coffee as the example going forward…

