Summary: Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the South Sea Bubble, the speculation mania in early 18th-century England which ended in the financial ruin of many investors. People from all walks of life bought shares in the South Sea Company, so when the shares crashed, there was a public outcry and many people faced financial ruin. But how did such a financial crisis develop and how serious were the effects of this early example of a stock market boom and bust? Melvyn Bragg is joined by Anne Murphy, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Hertfordshire; Helen Paul, Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton and Roey Sweet, Head of the School of History at the University of Leicester.
