South Sea Bubble

British  

noun

1. history the financial crash that occurred in 1720 after the South Sea Company had taken over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks

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Etymology

Origin of South Sea Bubble

so named because the rapid expansion and sudden collapse of investment resembled the blowing up and bursting of a bubble

Example Sentences

I was shocked and horrified to discover that I had just learned a lesson that was freely available all the way back to the South Sea Bubble.

From Barron's

Britain, which during the South Sea Bubble of the 1720s had enjoyed a parallel inflationary levitation, also suffered in the aftermath of the bubble popping, but its remorse was not so disabling as the French contrition.

From The Wall Street Journal

After James Milner, a member of the British Parliament, was bankrupted by the South Sea Bubble of 1720, he explained: “I said, indeed, that ruin must soon come upon us but … it came two months sooner than I expected.”

From MarketWatch

Alexander Pope, the poet, satirist and hapless investor, talked about bulls and bears in 1720 to describe his hopes for South Sea Company stock, while it was still zooming up in price — and before it became infamous as the disastrous South Sea Bubble.

From New York Times

I myself can’t exactly see what it’s good for, but the same question could have been asked about the joint stock company in the 1720s, when England was trying to recollect itself after the South Sea Bubble.

From Washington Post