MISSISSIPPI COMPANY

An example of well-known speculative bubble that took place from 1719 to 1720. France was in a dire economic straits in 1715. The country had an unstable treasury and fluctuating currency. John Law, a Scotsman and noted gambler living in exile, aided the government in shifting to paper currency by getting metallic coinage deposits and giving banknotes equivalent to the currency value on the day of deposit, as well as to look for its economic root. Law attained the Mississippi Company in 1717, by which the government gave a monopoly on trading rights with colonies as a gratitude for his support.