Indeed, it's an actual principle of economics, called the
Greater Fool Theory. As the Wikipedia article says:
The greater fool theory states that the price of an object is determined not by its intrinsic value, but rather by irrational beliefs and expectations of market participants. A price can be justified by a rational buyer under the belief that another party is willing to pay an even higher price. In other words, one may pay a price that seems "foolishly" high because one may rationally have the expectation that the item can be resold to a "greater fool" later.
Many hysterical, product-driven "booms" have occurred through the centuries. One of the most famous is the
Tulip Mania of 16th century Holland. Some new tulip varieties were introduced with variegated colours. They were so popular, a huge demand arose that outstripped supply, and soon the prices of these bulbs—and eventually, of all sorts of tulips—reached astronomical levels. At one point a single tulip bulb was worth 10 times a skilled worker's yearly earnings. Thousands of people invested money in the tulip market, believing prices would rise indefinitely. When reality caught up and the market crashed, many people were left destitute.
It shows you that this can happen with just about anything.
