What was the name of the 1720 French stock-market bubble centered on the Mississippi Company?

The 1720 French stock-market bubble centered on the Mississippi Company was the Mississippi Bubble.

The company, associated with Scottish financier John Law, received valuable trading privileges and control over parts of France’s colonial Louisiana territory. Law also became involved in reforming France’s finances through a bank that issued paper money. Optimism about colonial wealth and easy access to credit helped drive the company’s share price sharply higher.

The price rise became detached from the company’s realistic earnings and encouraged intense speculation. When confidence in the paper-money system and the company weakened, investors rushed to sell. The resulting collapse ruined many speculators and damaged confidence in paper currency and financial innovation.

The Mississippi Bubble occurred in the same year as Britain’s South Sea Bubble, but they were separate schemes in different countries. Tulip Mania, another frequently paired example, occurred in the Dutch Republic during the 1630s, nearly a century earlier.