You are correct about the reason the politicians loved the bubble because of the tax windfall it brought in and that is why they have done nothing about the tax on gas for the same reason. It is a game, but a losing game to build the economy on speculation. Tulip mania or tulipomania is considered to be one of the first of these and when you read about it, you have to laugh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
