SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY EMAIL “GAINING CHOICE” TO KEEP UP WITH ALL THINGS FINANCIAL AUTONOMY  Today we’re continuing to explore significant moments in financial history. In particular I’m aiming to arm you with a basic understanding of what the event was all about, and then importantly, why it’s of relevance today.   Last week we looked at Tulip Mania in the Netherlands in the 1600’s. Today we skip forward several centuries to the Great Depression of the late 1920’s and 1930’s.   The Great Depression remains the longest and most serve economic collapse in modern history. There is some variation across countries, but it is generally considered to have lasted 10 years, from 1929 to 1939, though for many countries directly impacted by World War2, their struggles were further prolonged.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY EMAIL “GAINING CHOICE” TO KEEP UP WITH ALL THINGS FINANCIAL AUTONOMY  You know how sometimes in the media or perhaps in a social setting, a self-declared expert will make reference to some historical event that they know full well most of us know little about, but they say it in such a way as to imply you’d be an imbecile if you weren’t aware of this world altering event. This is the first in a series of episodes in which we’re going to explore some of these often quoted financial events – the Great Depression, Hyperinflation in Germany, and this week’s episode – Tulip Mania. I’ll be keeping things short and sharp, as usual, but armed with the knowledge you’ve absorbed through these episodes, next time someone attempts to assert intellectual superiority, you can get right back in their face – “yes, I did know that”, you can say, “but actually the real tragedy was the way…”. Put them right back in their place. From the early 1600’s to the 1720’s, the Netherlands was the wealthiest country in the world. This was largely the result of a fair judicial system which meant that merchants from other parts of Europe, who were regularly imposed upon by their Kings to fund egotistical wars, (with imprisonment the outcome of non-compliance), where attracted to Amsterdam as a place where they could focus on what they did best - making money - relatively unimpeded.