During the South Sea Bubble, which French company formed the parallel Mississippi Bubble?

The Mississippi Company formed the parallel Mississippi Bubble during the South Sea Bubble era.

The company was reorganized under John Law, a Scottish financier who promoted a system combining colonial trade, paper money, and management of French government debt. Its shares rose dramatically in 1719 and 1720 as investors speculated about the wealth of French Louisiana.

The company’s promised riches were far greater than its actual commercial returns. Confidence broke in 1720, causing the share price and the value of Law’s paper currency system to collapse. The episode damaged public trust in paper money and speculative finance in France.

The Mississippi Bubble and Britain’s South Sea Bubble are often paired because they occurred at nearly the same time and involved state-backed companies tied to public debt. They were separate companies and separate national crises, however.