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If tulips had a near-zero storage cost (ie they didn't go bad), and a near-zero transmission cost, and if they supported anonymous ownership, and if the process
by paulhodge 14y ago
If tulips had a near-zero storage cost (ie they didn't go bad), and a near-zero transmission cost, and if they supported anonymous ownership, and if the process for generating tulips was more fair, and if the speed of tulip generation was guaranteed to slow down, then tulips probably would have made a decent form of currency too. Other than that though, totally the same thing.
- zeteo 14y agoOr maybe the similarity is a wave of speculative frenzy in both cases, inflating prices to unsustainable levels. The factors you mention (low storage and transmission cost, anonymous ownership) make speculation easier, not harder.
- ars 14y agoClearly you have not studied the subject. No tulips were ever exchanged during the mania - only contracts for tulips. The contracts had near-zero storage costs, near-zero transmission cost (just membership in the trading hall), anonymous ownership (sort of), and the process for generating tulips seems fair to me - the more work you do, the more tulips you create. (Not that is actually mattered - the entire thing happened during the dormant season of the tulip, and no one actually grew any.)