Introduction -- The stock market in early modern England -- Politics, warfare and finance -- Financial innovation and trade -- The bubble and the crash -- Reasons to invest in the South Sea Company -- Criticism and financial complexity -- The social history of the crash -- The real effects of...

This paper presents a case study of a well-informed investor in the South Sea bubble. We argue that Hoare's Bank, a fledgling West End London banker, knew that a bubble was in progress and that it invested knowingly in the bubble; it was profitable to ride the bubble. Using a unique dataset on...