Tulip mania was a period in the Dutch Republic during the 1630s when prices for certain tulip bulbs, newly fashionable at the time, rose to extraordinary levels. Prices accelerated from 1634 and collapsed in February 1637. At the peak, some bulbs sold for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled artisan, and the Semper Augustus was the most expensive variety, fetching 10,000 guilders. Charles Mackay's 1841 book described the episode as a madness that ruined investors, but many modern scholars think its impact was much smaller. The Dutch Republic remained one of the richest economies in the world. The term is now used for any bubble in which prices drift far from underlying value.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.