43. Bubble

Not all bubbles are all that bubbly. The South Sea Bubble made some people a lot of money - such as Isaac Newton, the physicist but also skilful financier - or a colossal amount of money - such as Thomas Guy, who founded Guy's Hospital, still one of England's great teaching hospitals. But it also ruined a lot of others. Rather like every bubble, down to the present day.

This bubble also opened the door for a man who might sort the fallout so competently that not too many in the English elite would suffer badly. Which would make him Britain's first Prime Minister. Truly proving that even a financial disaster could make the fortune of some people...

Illustration: Edward Matthew Ward, The South Sea Bubble, a Scene in ‘’Change Alley in 1720, Edward Matthew Ward. Presented by Robert Vernon 1847. Photo: Tate. Tate Reference: N00432. Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License