Tulip mania: when a single flower was worth more than a house | Hacker News

Hacker News commenters debated whether tulip mania was a true bubble, a policy-distorted market, or an overstated historical anecdote.

Some argued the classic psychology-driven story is weak, citing limited price evidence, contract nonpayment, and rational-bubble explanations.

Others compared tulip mania to modern speculative assets such as NFTs and crypto, with debate over whether the analogy fits.

The thread questions how much of tulip mania was mass irrationality versus a narrow historical episode shaped by market conditions.