Which 18th-century French company was central to the Mississippi Bubble stock-market crash?

The Mississippi Company was central to the Mississippi Bubble stock-market crash. The company, also known as the Company of the West, received major trading and colonial privileges in French Louisiana and became the focus of a huge speculative boom in 1719 and 1720.

John Law, a Scottish financier serving the French government, linked the company to a broader system involving paper money and public debt. Investors bought shares in expectation of enormous wealth from trade and colonial development, even though the company’s real commercial prospects could not support the prices.

Confidence collapsed in 1720 as holders tried to convert paper assets and shares into more reliable money. The resulting crash damaged investors and discredited Law’s financial system. The Mississippi Bubble is often discussed alongside Britain’s South Sea Bubble, but they were separate schemes in different countries. The Mississippi Company’s collapse was the central French event.