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Bubbles and barminess

By G.C. Seabourne

As the financial world melts down, explodes or whatever other evocative, concrete verb we are using today, the legal historian?s mind turns to the excesses of the first flush of mad, greedy, speculation, in the time of the famous South Sea Bubble. See R.S. Dale et al, ?Financial markets can go mad: evidence of irrational behaviour during the South Sea Bubble? Ec HR (2005) 233-71 (did you know that there were different types of bubble ? and doesn?t that give rather a nice image of staid, generally free-marketeer, economic historians sitting around with plastic pots and bubble wands, comparing their ?products??)

There is a certain sort of person prepared to take ridiculous risks in the hope of big profit ? such must have been those interested in the numerous wacky schemes of that time, like the excellent undertaking of which ?none was to know? the purpose! Sounds a bit like some of the deals done by our currently embattled financial institutions.

Those of us with the good taste to specialise in medieval law may also nod sagely and mutter that maybe there was something to be said for the usury laws.

Common Sense

Full post as published by Common Lawyer on October 02, 2008 (boomark / email).