AIG Greed Redux: John Law and the Mississippi Bubble
source: http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/aig-greed-redux-john-law-and-the-mississippi-bub...
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A national outcry of public outrage has forced the Obama administration to take action on the large bonuses that AIG has given to a group of its executives. The bonuses that AIG has distributed went to the very group of employees whose risky trades brought the company to the brink of collapse. The whole debacle of the greed displayed by AIG, as well as by some large banks that recently received large sums of bailout money from the government, is reminiscent of the simultaneous collapse of both the French trading arm and royal bank in the early 1700s. That collapse has been described as “John Law and the Mississippi Bubble.”
Richard Condie’s 1978 animated short film, “John Law and the Mississippi Bubble,” offers up a history lesson about that sensational get-rich-quick scheme, which took place in France over 200 years ago. The film won the Best Film Award at the 1980 International Short Film Festival in Tampere, Finland. With economist John Law at the helm, the plan was to open a national French bank and exchange bank notes for gold at wildly inflated share prices to mask the fact that the country’s gold had been depleted in the building of Louis XIV’s palace. In the film, when the inevitable rush to cash in the notes takes place, poor John Law is left broke and broken-hearted. It was one of the most sensational get-rich-quick schemes heard of in a long time, but it eventually burst over the head of its originator, John Law. This “rags to riches to rags” story, where Law's bank exchangeed banknotes (paper!) for gold at wildly inflated share prices, ends when John Law, having been cleaned out as a result of a rush to cash in the notes, is left broke and broken-hearted.
This article includes pictures from the film, and Condie's award-winning animated short, “John Law and the Mississippi Bubble.”
Richard Condie’s 1978 animated short film, “John Law and the Mississippi Bubble,” offers up a history lesson about that sensational get-rich-quick scheme, which took place in France over 200 years ago. The film won the Best Film Award at the 1980 International Short Film Festival in Tampere, Finland. With economist John Law at the helm, the plan was to open a national French bank and exchange bank notes for gold at wildly inflated share prices to mask the fact that the country’s gold had been depleted in the building of Louis XIV’s palace. In the film, when the inevitable rush to cash in the notes takes place, poor John Law is left broke and broken-hearted. It was one of the most sensational get-rich-quick schemes heard of in a long time, but it eventually burst over the head of its originator, John Law. This “rags to riches to rags” story, where Law's bank exchangeed banknotes (paper!) for gold at wildly inflated share prices, ends when John Law, having been cleaned out as a result of a rush to cash in the notes, is left broke and broken-hearted.
This article includes pictures from the film, and Condie's award-winning animated short, “John Law and the Mississippi Bubble.”
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Thanks for your kind comment!
Best wishes to you.
- 3 years ago
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lj111
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keeping the public informed is a good thing. good post.
- 3 years ago
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lj111
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lj111:
Thanks for your kind comment!
Best wishes to you.
- 3 years ago
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