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South Sea Company - The Original Economic Bubble
Description
In 1720, London was gripped by an investment frenzy.
Companies appeared almost overnight, promising fortunes from everything imaginable—and sometimes from nothing at all. One notorious prospectus supposedly offered shares in "an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is."
Investors bought in anyway.
At the center of the mania stood the South Sea Company, whose shares skyrocketed during 1720 before spectacularly collapsing. Politicians were implicated, fortunes disappeared, and even Isaac Newton lost heavily after getting caught up in the boom.
The scandal shook Britain's financial and political establishment. Its aftermath helped elevate Robert Walpole, traditionally regarded as Britain's first prime minister, as he worked to restore confidence in the government and financial system.
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