John Law and the Mississippi Bubble

An animated short about the history of one of the most sensational get-rich-quick schemes that took place in France over 200 years ago.

With economist John Law at the helm, the plan was to open a bank and exchange bank notes for gold at wildly inflated share prices to mask the fact that the country's gold had been depleted in the building of Louis XIV's palace. When the inevitable rush to cash in the notes takes place, poor John Law is left broke and broken-hearted.

This is pretty much how inflation, over printing of the money supply, manias and a bubble works.

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