Which 1720 London market scandal involved the South Sea Company?

The 1720 London market scandal involving the South Sea Company is known as the South Sea Bubble. Parliament gave the company a trading monopoly and allowed it to assume part of Britain's national debt, encouraging investors to buy its shares.

Promotional claims about riches from trade with Spanish America helped push the share price from about £100 in January 1720 to nearly £1,000 by August. The company had limited real trading success, and the price collapsed by the end of that year. Many investors, including members of the political elite, suffered severe losses.

Parliament investigated the scandal and found corruption. The same year also saw the Mississippi Bubble in France, creating confusion between the two events. The South Sea episode helped establish the word “bubble” as a lasting description of speculative financial manias.