The Mississippi Bubble: When Paper Wealth Seduced a KingdomRead More »
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The Mississippi Bubble: When Paper Wealth Seduced a Kingdom
Views: 254 In the early years of the eighteenth century, France found itself exhausted. Decades of war, lavish court expenditure, and a rigid fiscal system had left the kingdom burdened by debt and starved of confidence. The death of Louis XIV in 1715 did not merely mark the end of a reign; it exposed the fragility of the financial system that underpinned one of Europe’s great powers. Into this moment of fatigue and opportunity stepped a Scotsman with an unorthodox mind and a gambler’s confidence in probability. His name was John Law. Within five years, he would transform France’s monetary …
