The Famous Dutch Flower Auction Clock

Remember reading about tulip mania? The Netherlands is still a hub for flower sales hundreds of years later, and the biggest flower market is the Royal FloraHolland auction in Aalsmeer. The flower business in Aalsmeer happens at an insanely large scale. The auction itself was known for using a unique clock system, where bidders timed their offers to a clock that counted down the price. So the "clock" actually measured money instead of time. Tom Scott visits the flower auction to explain what happened to the Dutch auction clock, which once drew so many tourists, and is now defunct. The story takes only six minutes; the rest is an ad.