History's nine worst asset bubbles...and one set to burst?

10. Tulip mania During the 17th century, the Golden Age for the Netherlands, what was arguably the first recorded speculative bubble formed. Contract prices of tulip bulbs, which at the time were a highly-coveted luxury item, reached incredible highs, with a single bulb fetching ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman at the bubble’s 1637 peak, according to some estimates. However, some academics contend this price speculation was not severe enough to qualify as a true bubble, because the price of tulip bulbs would need to have become unhinged from their intrinsic value....