Which 18th-century company became the focus of France's Mississippi Bubble stock-market crash?

The Mississippi Company became the focus of France's Mississippi Bubble stock-market crash in the early 1720s.

John Law's company held a monopoly over trade and development connected with French Louisiana and later absorbed other French trading privileges. Law also controlled a major part of France's financial system through the Banque Générale, later the Banque Royale. These arrangements helped create a rapidly expanding market for the company's shares.

Share prices rose dramatically in 1719 and 1720 as investors anticipated enormous wealth from American commerce. The expectations far exceeded the colony's actual economic output. When confidence broke, investors rushed to exchange shares for money, prices collapsed, and Law's paper-money system came under severe pressure.

The Mississippi Bubble is often paired with Britain's South Sea Bubble, which occurred at roughly the same time but involved a different company and political setting. Both episodes are classic examples of speculative bubbles driven by promotional claims, easy credit, and crowd behavior.