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Date: | Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:52:37 -0500 |
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Regarding Barkley's mention of the problems in MacKay's treatment of the
Tulipmania:
One of the key uncertainties is the role of the Amsterdam city government
and local church officials in creating stories (or perpetuating rumors) to
illustrate the immorality of the exuberant pursuit of profits in the bulb
market. The classic dialogue between Waermondt and Gaergoedt ("True-mouth"
and "Greedy-Goods"), often used to describe the "college" trade of bulbs (a
key part of the price run-up), is a good example of a story that was
probably concocted as a morality tale.
Kindleberger's accounts of the early bubbles may depend too heavily upon
MacKay-like versions.
If I may self-promote, the interdisciplinary collection I edited, *Great
Bubbles*, has quite a bit of contemporary and modern material on the
tulipmania, Law's Mississippi Scheme, and the South Sea Bubble. As several
people have already mentioned, some of the best work has appeared since my
volumes.
Ross Emmett
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