The year is 1720. A Scottish murderer who escaped death row has just become the richest man in history. He controls France's entire money supply, tax collection, and colonial trade. In six months, he'll flee Paris dressed as a woman, leaving behind the world's first modern financial collapse.
Meet John Law - convicted killer, mathematical genius, and the man who created paper money, quantitative easing, and stock market bubbles 300 years before the Federal Reserve existed. His Mississippi Company scheme turned servants into millionaires overnight, crashed to zero, and set in motion events that would lead to the French Revolution.
In this inaugural episode of our new "Villains" series, Arie Van Gemeren uncovers the wild true story of history's first financial engineer - from dueling over women in London to controlling $6.5 trillion in today's money to dying broke in Venice.
More importantly, discover why every central bank today is still running Law's playbook, why paper wealth isn't real wealth, and how to protect yourself when everyone else is getting rich on leverage and stories.
Key Takeaways:
- Why every fiat currency is a confidence game
- How leverage becomes a weapon of mass destruction
- The dangerous pattern when one entity controls money, taxes, AND trade
- Why bubbles always need a story (and today's versions)
- The only three roles in any bubble (and why all three ended badly here)
This is the Timeless Investor Show. Think well. Act wisely. Build something timeless.
New series alert: "The Villains" - learning from history's greatest financial fraudsters to protect your wealth today.
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Think Well. Act Wisely. Build Something Timeless.
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