Download or read book A Very English Deceit The Secret History of the South Sea Bubble and the First Great Financial Scandal Text Only written by Malcolm Balen and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2012-06-28 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ebook of the critically acclaimed popular history book: the story of the South Sea Bubble which in Balen’s hands becomes a morality tale for our times. A classic collision of political ambition, mercenary greed and financial revolution.
Download or read book A Very English Deceit written by Malcolm Balen and published by 4th Estate, Limited. This book was released on 2002 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early years of the 18th-century produced two great monuments: one, Christopher Wren's new cathedral of St Paul's, an enduring testament to principled craft and masterful construction, the other an empty fraud of such magnitude that its collapse threatened to overturn monarchies and governments. Its failure delayed the introduction of modern market economies by two generations. Yet the full scale of this monumental deceit was quietly covered up and hidden, its enduring legacy a poorly understood colloquialism: the South Sea Bubble.
Download or read book The Secret History of the South Sea Bubble written by Malcolm Balen and published by Harper. This book was released on 2003-04-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early years of the eighteenth-century produced two great monuments: one, Christopher Wren’s new cathedral of St Paul’s, an enduring testament to principled craft and masterful construction. The other an empty fraud of such magnitude that its collapse threatened to overturn monarchies and governments. Its failure delayed the introduction of modern market economies by two generations. Yet the full scale of this monumental deceit was quietly covered up and hidden, its enduring legacy a poorly understood colloquialism: the South Sea Bubble.It was all planned by one ambitious promoter, who had decided to launch ‘a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is’. This eighteenth-century mission statement has now acquired an almost uncanny resonance: these words could aptly have been applied to the bursting of the Internet bubble and the collapse of Enron. With the financial scandals that have beset global companies recently, such as Rank Xerox and Worldcom, this tale is all the more relevant today.Balen reveals the full story of corruption and scandal that attended the birth of the first shareholder economy, and with it uncovers a parable for our times.
Download or read book The South Sea Bubble written by John Carswell and published by Sutton Publishing. This book was released on 1993 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative account of this extraordinary 18th-century financial, political, and royal scandal, this book describes the drama of the promotion, the insane fever of speculation, and the international impact of the final collapse.
Download or read book The Great Swindle written by Virginia Cowles and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1960, acclaimed American journalist and biographer Virginia Cowles provides rich background information on 18th century English politics and economic theories, as well as the story of a national speculation that became a national swindle. It is a “serious and scholarly study specifically concentrated on the financial swindle in all its ramifications, rather than on a portrait of the times.” Here, in minute detail, Cowles charts both the Mississippi Bubble in France and the South Sea Bubble in England, as speculators and manipulators sold the public from the royal house down on a new way to absorb the gigantic national debts. That the promised dividends were to come out of non-existent resources and funds—backed by the presumed integrity of those who launched the scheme—was branded by Robert Walpole as “evil of the first magnitude.” Here was the initial “stock market swindle” in history, which spread to the launching of lesser swindles and highlighted the depravity of the age. A fascinating historical read. Illustrated throughout with portrait paintings.
Download or read book The King the Crook and the Gambler written by Malcolm Balen and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2004-06-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unscrupulous Englishman had the notion for a company that would establish a lucrative trade in silver and spices between England and the Americas. What the investors didn't know was that the South Sea Company barely owned a ship. In this gripping account, Malcolm Balen reveals the true story of how a simple stock-share scheme became a Dickensian web of political and financial intrigue that threatened to overturn two monarchies and topple the British government. Set in the mazy back alleys of the newly inaugurated financial districts of 1720s London and Paris, The King, the Crook, and the Gambler is a lively, fast-paced, and surprisingly epic history of how the South Sea Bubble escalated into a catastrophe that made the fortunes of few and the ruin of many -- and has proved the model for every financial bubble since.
Download or read book The South Sea Bubble written by Robert Wernick and published by New Word City. This book was released on 2017-02-14 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of the seventeenth century, English investors began to see money-making in a new light. A piece of paper - a share or a bond - could be as profitable as holdings in land and far less cumbersome to administer. Furthermore, while land was taxed, profits from these new securities were not. This inevitably led to abuse. In this short-form book, New York Times bestselling author Robert Wernick traces the remarkable history of the South Sea Bubble, one of the greatest financial scandals of all time.
Download or read book The South Sea Bubble and the Numerous Fraudulent Projects to Which It Gave Rise in 1720 Historically Detailed As a Beacon to the Unwary Against Mode written by South Sea Bubble and published by . This book was released on 2022-10-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The South Sea Bubble and the Numerous Fraudulent Projects to which it Gave Rise in 1720 Second Edition with Additions written by South Sea Company and published by . This book was released on 1825 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The First Crash written by Richard Dale and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-31 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly three centuries the spectacular rise and fall of the South Sea Company has gripped the public imagination as the most graphic warning to investors of the dangers of unbridled speculation. Yet history repeats itself and the same elemental forces that drove up the price of South Sea shares to dizzying heights in 1720 have in recent years produced the global crash of 1987, the Japanese stock market bubble of the 1980s/90s, and the international dot.com boom of the 1990s. The First Crash throws light on the current debate about investor rationality by re-examining the story of the South Sea Bubble from the standpoint of investors and commentators during and preceding the fateful Bubble year. In absorbing prose, Richard Dale describes the trading techniques of London's Exchange Alley (which included 'modern' transactions such as derivatives) and uses new data, as well as the hitherto neglected writings of a brilliant contemporary financial analyst, to show how investors lost their bearings during the Bubble period in much the same way as during the dot.com boom. The events of 1720, as presented here, offer insights into the nature of financial markets that, being independent of place and time, deserve to be considered by today's investors everywhere. This book is therefore aimed at all those with an interest in the behavior of stock markets.
Download or read book The South Sea Bubble and the Numerous Fraudulent Projects to which it Gave Rise in 1720 Historically Detailed as a Beacon to the Unwary Against Modern Schemes Equally Visionary and Nefarious written by South Sea Company and published by . This book was released on 1825 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Early Speculative Bubbles and Increases in the Supply of Money written by and published by Ludwig von Mises Institute. This book was released on 2009-03-16 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Housing Bubble was hardly the first in human history. What's eluded historians is the same issue that eludes commentators today: the underlying cause of bubbles. This book is the first (and only) book to solve the mystery of the most famous bubble in world history: Tulipmania in 17th century Netherlands. It Is a legendary event but explanations have been lacking. People blame irrational exuberance, free markets, and an unleashed aristocracy. Douglas French takes a different route: he follows the money to prove that the bubble resulted from a government intervention that dramatically exploded the money supply and fueled the tulip-price bubble – not altogether different from modern bubbles. This book was French’s Master’s thesis written under the direction of Murray Rothbard and examining three of the most famous speculative bubble episodes in history through the lens of Austrian Business Cycle Theory. Although each of these episodes is well documented, this book examines the monetary interventions that engendered each of these events showing that not only the Mississippi Bubble and the South Sea Bubble were caused by government meddling, but Tulipmania was as well. Tulipmania was unique in that it was the sound money policy of the Dutch combined with free coinage laws that led to an acute increase in the supply of money and fostered an atmosphere that was ripe for speculation and malinvestment, manifesting itself in the intense trading of tulip bulbs. The author examines not only the Mississippi Bubble but also the life and monetary theories of its architect, John Law. Professor Joe Salerno calls Law the world’s first macroeconomist who implemented a Keynesian monetary system in France nearly two hundred years before Keynes was born. At the same time across the English Channel, a nearly bankrupt British government looked on with envy at Law’s system, believing that he was working a financial miracle. It was anything but this and investors in both countries were devastated. Although these episodes occurred centuries ago, readers will find the events eerily similar to today’s bubbles and busts: low interest rates, easy credit terms, widespread public participation, bankrupt governments, price inflation, frantic attempts by government to keep the booms going, and government bailouts of companies after the crash. When will we learn? We first have to get cause and effect in history straight. This book is an excellent contribution to that effort.
Download or read book The South sea bubble and the numerous fraudulent projects to which it gave rise in 1720 historically detailed as a beacon to the unwary against modern schemes written by South sea bubble and published by . This book was released on 1825 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Money For Nothing written by Thomas Levenson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-03 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Financial Times Economics Book of the Year A brilliant narrative of early capitalism's most famous scandal, a speculative frenzy that nearly bankrupted the British state during the hot summer of 1720 – and paradoxically led to the birth of modern finance. The South Sea Company was formed to trade with Asian and Latin American countries. But it had almost no ships and did precious little trade. Instead it got into financial fraud on a massive scale, taking over the government's debt and promising to pay the state out of the money received from the shares it sold. And how they sold. In the summer of 1720 the share price rocketed and everyone was making money. Until the carousel stopped, and thousands lost their shirts. Isaac Newton, Alexander Pope and others lost heavily. Thomas Levenson's superb account of the South Sea Bubble is not just the story of a huge scam, but is also the story of the birth of modern financial capitalism: the idea that you can invest in future prosperity and that governments can borrow money to make things happen, like funding the rise of British naval and mercantile power. These dreamers and fraudsters may have bankrupted Britain, but they made the world rich. Praise for Money For Nothing: 'A scholar who makes complicated and subtle matters not just accessible but fun. Utterly relevant to the 2008 financial crisis and 2020 pandemic' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE 'Thoroughly researched and vibrantly written, Money For Nothing captures those heady, heartbreaking times, which still hold lessons for today' DAVID KAISER 'A gripping story of scientists and swindlers, all too pertinent to our modern world' JAMES GLEICK 'It's easy to look back and think of the South Sea bubblers, like the tulip-mad Dutch of the 1630s, as financially naive – until you remember how many people jumped in on various other more recent crazes (from Beanie Babies to Pets.com and Bitcoin). This is not a new tale, but Levenson tells it with a light touch' SPECTATOR
Download or read book Great Financial Scandals written by Sam Jaffa and published by Robson Books Limited. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fascinating look at the low side of high finance, Sam Jaffa, author of the best-selling Maxwell Stories, uncovers the wheeler-dealers, the schemers and the scoundrels behind the greatest financial scares throughout history. What were the forces that drove Robert Maxwell, said to be the tenth richest person in Britain when his empire collapsed, to purloin vast sums from his company pension funds? What method did Swedish "Match King' Ivar Kreuger use to build up his real and bogus companies? Are human greed, vanity and a craving for power the only motivating factors in these cases? From the world's first notable financial debacle, the South Sea Bubble scandal of the seventeenth century, through to the Boesky, Guniness, BCCI, Barings and New Era scandals of more recent times, Sam Jaffe weaves a rich and startling web of the deceitful depths to which men and woman will sink in search of fast -- and big -- bucks.
Download or read book The Great Swindle a History of the South Sea Bubble written by Virginia Cowles and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-17 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before sub-prime lending torpedoed the global economy in 2008, before the stock market crash of 1929, before Ponzi invented his schemes, the South Sea Company pulled off their own great swindle in 18th century Britain. Remarkably, the ways of the Company were not unique in Europe. The Mississippi Bubble had just wreaked similar havoc across the channel in France. Virginia Cowles reveals the conspiracies that ripped-off two nations and implicated both Royal houses. She exposes the individuals responsible for the swindle, how they did it and how two scams so similar and so devastating could occur so close together. The Great Swindle is a compelling narrative of greed, corruption and devastation. Its relevance today need not be stated, the parallels are clear. Not only do the ways of the stock market continue to boggle the minds of most of us, 'expert' and layman alike, but also there continues to be those willing and able to exploit that to their material advantage. Cowles reveals this has been the case for centuries. Worse still, it's clear those responsible used their wealth and power to get away with it then as they still do today. Virginia Cowles (1910-83) was a well-respected American journalist and biographer, especially known for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. For her service as a war correspondent she was awarded an OBE by the British government in 1947. She authored fifteen books, about her journalistic experiences, various historical topics, figures and families, and was a contributor to Vogue and Harper's. She is also the author of 'The Astors', 'The Romanovs' and 'The Rothschilds'. Praise for Virginia Cowles. 'A fascinating historical read' - The Telegraph 'A rarity and a joy - a witty novel' - Birmingham Daily Post 'A luminously sketched view of human folly' - The New York Times 'For the political background alone you must read Cowles' book, which deals with it admirably' - Country Life
Download or read book Money for Nothing written by Thomas Levenson and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sweeping story of the world’s first financial crisis: “an astounding episode from the early days of financial markets that to this day continues to intrigue and perplex historians . . . narrative history at its best, lively and fresh with new insights” (Liaquat Ahamed, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lords of Finance) A Financial Times Economics Book of the Year ● Longlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award In the heart of the Scientific Revolution, when new theories promised to explain the affairs of the universe, Britain was broke, facing a mountain of debt accumulated in war after war it could not afford. But that same Scientific Revolution—the kind of thinking that helped Isaac Newton solve the mysteries of the cosmos—would soon lead clever, if not always scrupulous, men to try to figure a way out of Britain’s financial troubles. Enter the upstart leaders of the South Sea Company. In 1719, they laid out a grand plan to swap citizens’ shares of the nation’s debt for company stock, removing the burden from the state and making South Sea’s directors a fortune in the process. Everybody would win. The king’s ministers took the bait—and everybody did win. Far too much, far too fast. The following crash came suddenly in a rush of scandal, jail, suicide, and ruin. But thanks to Britain’s leader, Robert Walpole, the kingdom found its way through to emerge with the first truly modern, reliable, and stable financial exchange. Thomas Levenson’s Money for Nothing tells the unbelievable story of the South Sea Bubble with all the exuberance, folly, and the catastrophe of an event whose impact can still be felt today.
