England: South Sea Bubble - The Sharp Mind of John Blunt - Extra History - Part 1

📜 England's South Sea Bubble - Part 1 - Extra History
When Robert Harley steps in as England's new Chancellor of the Exchequer, he discovers that not only is the government deeply in debt, but no one knows quite how much debt it owes. Because vicious political infighting between the Tory and Whig politic parties made it difficult to pass new tax laws, Harley turned to a private financier named John Blunt to help find enough money for England to keep up with its expenses for the year. Using Harley's government resources, Blunt instigated a series of get-rich schemes that drove artificial demand for unsustainable land and lottery investments with tremendous short term gains. Before the year was done, Blunt had successfully covered the shortfall for the government that year - albeit at the cost of driving England's already outrageous debt even higher.
* Watch Extra History ad-free & get 1-week early access on NEBULA go.nebula.tv/e...
* Suggest & Vote on our next episodes, get exclusive content & 24-hour early access on PATREON bit.ly/EHPatreon
* Show off your fandom with MERCH from our store! extracredits.st...
Interested in sponsoring an episode? Email us: [e-mail]
TWITTER: bit.ly/ECTweet I FACEBOOK: bit.ly/ECFBPage
INSTAGRAM: bit.ly/ECisonIn... I TIKTOK: bit.ly/ECtiktokz
GAMING: / @extracredits I TWITCH: bit.ly/ECtwitch
Miss an episode in our South Sea Bubble Series?
Part 1 - • England: South Sea Bub...
Part 2 - • England: South Sea Bub...
Part 3 - • England: South Sea Bub...
Part 4 - • England: South Sea Bub...
Part 5 - • England: South Sea Bub...
Series Wrap-up & Lies Episode - • England: South Sea Bub...
Thanks for the high-quality conversations & for following our community guidelines here: bit.ly/ECFansR...
Artist: David Hueso I Writer: James Portnow I Voice: Daniel Floyd I Editor: Carrie Floyd
♪ Extra History Theme by Sean & Dean Kiner I ♪ Music by Demetori: bit.ly/1EQA5N7
#ExtraHistory #SouthSeaBubble #History

[@MogofWar]

0:08 "This time it's going to be a daring tale of high seas, adventure, and romance--Nah I'm just kiddin' this is going to be all about finance, and economics." Most stories about the prior are really stories about the latter anyway.

[@darthparallax5207]

EDMOND DANTES!

[@doopboop8359]

WALPOLE

[@lavendervonstaro4004]

*Historical Materialism intensifies*

[@vicentetemes5793]

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but even less people expect the South Seas' Bubble.

[@Greg_Ulmer]

fewer

[@vicentetemes5793]

eggertstwart Shut up Stannis.

[@KennyHazy97]

+Vicente Parker It is a very odd topic for an Extra History series. Who could've possibly put forward so many votes on Patreon to choo--it was Walpole.

[@byzantium1416]

So negative amounts of people expect the south seas bubble? My god....

[@yusufhussein1343]

Vicente Temes I

[@Centurian128]

That moment you realize that Dan never got to cover Julius Caesar or the Spanish Inquisition before he left :(

[@MYTRYAAIN]

Yo three months later, why'd he leave? Joined the channel after he left.

[@dorkfish1275]

@@MYTRYAAIN idk, but he did a wise move.

[@darrenbutler9819]

@@dorkfish1275 why Wise? It's a great channel that talks about all kinds of history

[@dorkfish1275]

@@darrenbutler9819 Have you seen how downhill everything other than their history series has gotten?

[@darrenbutler9819]

@@dorkfish1275 what do you mean exactly?

[@tomjack1000000]

When Dan talks about loving extra credits and following other topics it just makes me sad, miss ya dude

[@W-I463]

Why did he leave?

[@spiritorange8325]

@Stellvia Hoenheim Dont be spreading false information

[@itzbeendakavgaming5632]

@@W-I463 Not 100% sure, but he said Extra Credits was just a University project.

[@CommissarMitch]

Considering he is now happy doing PlayFrame for years and talking a lot about animation and doing video games for a living, I would say he succeeded.

[@suneenough]

Yes, Mr. *Blunt* must have been very *sharp.*

[@bliffity2692]

A pun is a punishable crime alone, but when you use the already made pun on the video of the creator of the pun in which they made the pun, you must commit seppuku.

[@MegaKoutsou]

+Bliffity PUNishable action? Was that intended?

[@bliffity2692]

gijijijijijijijijijijji *FACK*

[@mementomori1320]

What if his rival Mr. Sharp was quite blunt

[@privatemcawesome4782]

+Bliffity Sudoku* Common typo

[@americana_incarnate1717]

British General: Sir who shall why fight next? The King: EVERYOONE!!!!

[@jamesgors6650]

Cabinet: So which countries are we fighting? King: *Yes*

[@Pikashockdragon]

*Insert The King being chased by a mob of Soldiers* The King: O.o EVERYONE BUT ME!!!!!!!

[@joshuakusuma5953]

A Wolf of Wall Street style movie with Blunt would actually be pretty interesting.

[@seanwilliam2856]

How bout the south seas bubble but in the direction of inaucci

[@SamAronow]

@@seanwilliam2856 HOOK IT TO MY VEINS

[@gaycharles391]

i was thinking the same. the original pump and dump scheme

[@kamanashiskar9203]

Blunt was the Lion of the Corporation of London.

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

Does thou think any of these happening are legal? Absolutely fucking not legal my friend.

[@kainebishop3970]

It's the educational TV I always wanted as a child.

[@plyinglemon]

Kaine Bishop I know I'm two years late responding, but you're onto something. If they made an educational history show for kids when I was a kid, I would have never stopped watching it.

[@homemadefilms5718]

Way better than whatever the history channel is nowadays

[@Exeggutor_Enjoyer]

@@homemadefilms5718 The worst part is, it used to be good, but the stupid stuff is more profitable.

[@MakotoCamellia]

Still paying on the debt 300 years later? Sounds like England graduated from an American private college. ;)

[@azelfdaboi5265]

yea

[@bigo8647]

Well, too many wars, too many Colonies uprising, too many soldiers to be fed and paid and transport, too many guns needed. And then the Colonies achieve independence so the money King George III spent in the American Revolutionary War gave him no revenue. And then later on we have to consider the debt with China before the Opium Wars.

[@lunag.1521]

r/woooooosh

[@jonathanhardy2345]

Americas economy can only work by maintaining a certain amount of debt

[@billyosullivan4514]

Or an England uni

[@samwolfenstein5239]

I T W A S W A L P O L E

[@robertwalpole360]

It always is. ;)

[@Redragonclaws]

Sam Wolfenstein Walpole was the first English PM, and his rule lasted 22 years. It's not surprising that he pops up everywhere.

[@farenhite4329]

God damn it Walpole.

[@infamousempire8302]

This series is the origin of that meme

[@youtubebackup3184]

Sam Wolfenstein another man of culture I see

[@TheJboy88]

Do you mean to tell me that my country has been stuck trying to pay off the same debt for the last 300 years? Makes you wonder why all those Chancellors even WANT the job.

[@falconJB]

You get to control the money of the nation in country that is OK with you just ignoring 100s of years of debt, who wouldn't want that job.

[@TheGerkuman]

Jeremiah B Plus you may get to be Prime Minister one day.

[@1998anirudh]

It's a job well done if you're able to placate angry creditors who demand immediate repayment by paying off debt by borrowing money in the hope that in sometime in the future you will have enough surplus to be able to pay off the debt created by borrowing money to pay of the original debt . Deep , isnt it ? The art of the job is pushing immediate debt into the future WITHOUT ending up in a debt trap .

[@tibfulv]

In fairness, the old debt is pretty small now. The debt from the two world wars is bigger. And since the economy expands and inflation happens, even those debts are diminished so that the most recent debt dominates. Though austerity should handle that.

[@mannerheommhagel6761]

Jay I'm also british

[@ARSP333]

As someone who is in the process of getting their business degree (with plans to specialize in accounting) this seems extremely interesting. I can't wait to see more.

[@TheSlimyDog]

Yeah. I'm enjoying this a bit more than the Sengoku Jidai. All those names x_x

[@shieldgenerator7]

TheSlimyDog Oh those names! I could never keep track of who was who between episodes

[@1998anirudh]

TheSlimyDog I kept track by looking at the colour of their armour .

[@TheSlimyDog]

Pinkie Pie I tried but failed. Also kept forgetting which clan each one was from. Would have been a tiny bit better if they color coded it that way.

[@mickeymalone7577]

yeah so many lords at war and i have a feeling the lotto scheme i this episode is going to come back and bite britain in the butt

[@Riastrad-hq6ds]

Hey, it’s happening again! Time to rewatch this series for the seventh time.

[@mithingthooth_5449]

I miss this narrator

[@tjswanson7577]

Boy, who would have thought that Britain's centuries old financial practices could accurately be described as "Shenanigans"? REALLY looking forward to the rest of these!

[@kuatokuatokuato]

But ... Nobody expects the inquisition :(

[@vavakxnonexus]

I am.

[@riquelme3764]

Well i certainly didnt expect the inquisition in this episode.

[@Aragorn195]

Not Even the Spanish Inquisition

[@Stabosaurus]

Next episode will look like it's a continuation on the South Seas Company, but halfway in: BAM! Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! I'm calling it.

[@AnthonyPaoliMasakiSays]

Perhaps it's a ploy to keep you from expecting them?

[@thewayfarer8849]

The funny thing is that the rumour is that a similar note was made when Osborne took his job, left by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the Labour government scrawling "good luck" underneath it. And another fact, our Chancellor of the Exchequer has *no qualifications in economics, he studied as a journalist My country

[@MrCubFan415]

The Wayfarer Hello from across the pond in 🇺🇸!

[@dkupke]

Hey, right now here in the states we have a secretary of energy who’s educational background is in animal husbandry.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

The United States and the United Kingdom seem to be in a competition over who can perform the biggest political fuckup. Brexit was a good try, but I think the United States won.

[@ReaverLordTonus]

Leftover problems from the fall of the RBS?

[@TheOmegaXicor]

@@thegardenofeatin5965 The game isn't over yet, wait and see our next move... :P

[@kevinbasantes6363]

With the Gamestop thing going on I think it's a good time to rewatch this series

[@NerrawGnap]

What “Gamestop thing”?

[@yalfaharr4395]

1 year later and we haven't seen either Cesar or the Spanish Inquisition

[@luska5522]

4 years now

[@chipua2230]

At this point I’m expecting the Spanish Inquisition

[@russellbrown6888]

@@chipua2230 That's probably their tactic. Wait until everybody has forgotten they mentioned the Inquisition and then spring a series on them out of nowhere.

[@ianhamilton9600]

June 2021 Jewish pirates is the closest we’ve gotten to Spanish Inquisition and cleopatra is closest to Julius Caesar

[@snakes3425]

Suggestions The War of the Spanish Succession Golden Age of Piracy Great Depression The Three Kingdoms Period of China The Chinese Civil War Russian Revolution The Gallic Wars

[@adventureinc1568]

+snakes3425 The War of the Quadurple Alliance? (1718)

[@snakes3425]

+Captain Inc That would be good also a few more The English Civil War The Greco-Persian Wars The Panic of 1857 The Life of Simon Bolivar The Mexican Revolution The Nine Years War/League of Augsburg Great French War/French Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars German Unification Italian Unification Classical Greece The Fall of the Western Roman Empire The Hundred Years War War of the Roses Franco-Prussian War Napoleon III Crimean War The Rise and Fall of Napoleon I The French Revolution Louis XVI-XVI The Seven Years/French and Indian War

[@adventureinc1568]

snakes3425 Pretty good, here are mine. Russian Civil War 1921-1923 War of 1812. Warring States Period El Capone Black Beard War of Texan Independence War of Mexican Independence Haiti Rebellion 100 Years War 30 Years War Anglo-Russian War 1812 Fall of the Eastern Roman Empire Rise of the Ottoman Empire.

[@JoPauloSo]

+snakes3425 Portuguese Discoveries!

[@richmondcabunilas2199]

+snakes3425 World's First Circumnavigation by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian de Elcano (1517-1521)

[@Ploxtifs_OldAndDeadAccountXD]

It’s 2024, and we have apparently learned NOTHING from the South Sea bubble…. Money printer go BRRRRR

[@JordanSmith-yi3ji]

Hooray! Economics!

[@sumguy0110]

Hooray! Soul crushing depression and confusion!

[@crabbington7736]

Today's story will be about pirates and action.NOPE JK its about economics n boring money stuf

[@CoolExcite]

This is probably my favorite extra history so far. I am also suprised you explained something like this without getting me confused

[@Overhazard]

Interesting that the Tories and Whigs could not get along at all and attempted to block anything the other party tried seemingly out of a pure sense of rivalry. Reminds me a lot of the Democrats and Republicans in the United States today, who can't get anything done because they see the other party as enemies to be defeated and subdued. That's the impression I get reading and watching the news, anyway.

[@David-fm6go]

The interesting thing is about the way it ended. The Whigs won. I don't mean they won two elections or three. They won, all of them. They destroyed the Tories. So much so that the Tories never existed against in real terms. Those people from 1783-1840 who were called "Tories" (Pitt, Addison, Wellington, Burke etc) were actually Conservative Whigs . One of them even said, "the government of the last century is and could only have been a Whig Gov't", despite the fact that since 1783 Pitt the Younger and his "friends" had basically run Britain for 30 years at that point, with only a short interlude after Pitt died in 1806. Part of this was because the Tories were barred from gov't office for several decades, another is because they associated themselves twice with the Jacobite pretenders, which is not a way to ingratiate yourself to the loyal voters of the land, and especially younger generations. And indeed once the older generation passed away in the 1750's, the Tories went from having a significant enough presence in Parliament during Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising, to having nothing by the 1760's. A similar thing happened in the US, with the Federalist Party in place of the Tories and Democratic-Republicans in place of the Whigs. There were actually many similarities between the Federalists and Tories and between the DRs and Whigs. The most important of which was the former holding on to anachronistic view of government. Tories to Jacobitism, the Federalists to elitist over populism. Just like with the Whigs, when the DRs owned the whole political landscape, they split in two. And the Democrats strained every effort to label their National Republican and later American Whig counterparts as latter day Federalists and elitists, just like dissident British Whigs would label their opponents as Tories. Lord North was labeled a Tory when he was Prime Minister, though he ended up forming an alliance with Charles James Fox that formed the basis for the Whig party in the 19th century (later forming the Liberals). Meanwhile, Pitt and eventually after maneuvering between both sides, Edmund Burke, formed the basis of what would become the Conservative Party.

[@sor3999]

No, you're absolutely right. It's not just the impression you get on TV.

[@lividphysics1237]

Agreed

[@PennyDreadful1]

The republicans are way worse actually. If you are even mildly moderate. You are either very rare or a democrat.

[@dkupke]

And also worth pointing out: its in a situation like that where bottom feeders like Blunt see opportunity.

[@buntado6]

You know, I would inmensily thank you if someday you made a series regarding South America, specially the independence of countries brought for by Simon Bolivar. But the reason I ask this is because I want to test something: I am venezuelan myself, and sometimes I wonder if the reason the history of my own country is unnapealling to me is because of the way it has been teached to me, the grudge it generates in me by seeing how this nefarious government uses it in it's own political campaign, or that I simply wish to hear stories that I haven't heard before. Your videos are very inmersive, so... I'm kinda putting my hopes on you on this matter.

[@starbuckscoffee7808]

Predicting 100

[@ChadtronicFan]

And your prayers have been answered.

[@passonthestar3689]

rewatching this exquisite series

[@gonzapra1]

Same here :)

[@vizthex]

Binge re-watching all of the Extra History series (While checking out the NMS Update) :D

[@CappuccinoGuil]

Another part of history I NEVER heard of. Seems promising. Can't wait to learn more about it :D

[@DoubleATam]

It really does feel like an "action-ey" exciting thing despite there being no combat involved! In a way reminds me of Phoenix Wright and the like.

[@Bopl_]

This in my opinion is the best EH series they have made

[@Liletter]

PLEASE do Marie Curie, she’s my idol, and she deserves a lot of recognition, why? Because: -First woman to ever win a Nobel Prize. -First person to win two of them. -First woman in all of Europe to earn a doctorate degree. -Discovered Radium and Polonium. -Coined the term “radiation”. -Is generally awesome.

[@starbuckscoffee7808]

Um, she already has recognition.

[@williamhowland9977]

revisiting in light of recent news in stonks

[@Borzogo]

YES! Back already! I love Extra History. Sometimes even more than the original series! :)

[@JoshSweetvale]

Is Blunt the guy Littlefinger is based on?

[@pontuslidekil6840]

would not surprise me if he was.

[@weldonwin]

You'd probably have to go much further back, since GoT is based loosely on the Wars of the Roses

[@dragonkingofthestars]

that would be Walpole.

[@arrasvonschlieffen9286]

if you think of it, Littlefinger was based not on a certain man, but on an image that one man created - Machiavelli

[@tbestig4164]

Hard to make economics entertaining, but this series did great with it. Always my favorite extra history episodes

[@Stounyx]

This feels very relevant in relation to the NFT bubble

[@kingbadmovie]

Is this kinda what's going on with gamestop right now?

[@mariuspontmercy2736]

Gotta love some good old-fashioned 1700's-style Enronomics.

[@Udontkno7]

gamestop or whatever

[@Voxavs]

I'm surprised this story is not a major motion picture yet.

[@Theprimescollective]

This seems really awesome, and I've never heard of it before, so good on you guys. Keep up the good work!

[@EthanDyTioco]

I’m watching this to get to the bottom of the Walpole meme

[@Ttæœ]

what is that meme and feel free to meme me to death for not knowing

[@EthanDyTioco]

@@Ttæœ I think Walpole gets mentioned in episode 5 of this series, but tl;dr he's a mad lad who was the reason behind a lot of things happening

[@Ttæœ]

@@EthanDyTioco thanks

[@jonathananderson3618]

I've showed all your videos to my friends, they love your history segments because they find how you teach it amazingly interesting.

[@amyreynolds7244]

I am so excited about this series! I've already watched the video twice. Goodness, how do you make "X-treme Finance!" look this cool?

[@Duncan23]

I'd love to see a series on the history of the HRE/ hapsburg monachy

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

Wow. I wasn't expecting anything about economics with this series. Thanks :) Gives me hope that maybe they'll do the Great Depression one day. Or maybe the robber barons.

[@drawingmoo4109]

Watching this again in 2023 is a wild ride

[@sevenb9495]

The fact that this was one of your EARLY episodes is what I adore about this channel.

[@CommissarWallace]

Can I suggest the War of Spanish Succession? That's a lot of political chicanery and incredibly influential.

[@historybuff222]

No, all the 18th century, when one could see a European in its natural habitat.

[@CommissarWallace]

Robl Nathan the 18th century, where Europeans spent most of their time in other peoples' lands.

[@VixVixious]

Ahem... there was already Great Britain in the very early 1700s, because Great Britain is the geographical name of the island. You mean there was no United Kingdom yet! (thanks CGP Grey)

[@falconJB]

You are thinking of the modern idea of Great Britain they are talking about the Kingdom of Great Britain, Grey's video does not apply to this period of history.

[@VixVixious]

Jeremiah B In the beginning of the video they imply that Great Britain arose after Scotland and England were reunited, and that's still a wrong implication, given that Great Britain is a geographical term.

[@Treviisolion]

VixVixious When it was first united it was called the Kingdom of Great Britain as it did not include the Kingdom of Ireland and as such only was the Kingdom of the island of Great Britain, hence the name. After 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland was merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After most of Ireland seceded, the name was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which CGP Grey explains.

[@Wiccanwolf08]

VixVixious An argument in semantics really, as Great Britain is BOTH a geographical and political term. "Great Britain" refers to the island and it also refers to the kingdom. It should be known that "Great Britain" is also the name of the island, but considering that we are dealing with the relationships of countries and kingdoms here (and since most people associate the term with a kingdom *anyway*), it isn't really necessary.

[@Pilgrim1st]

No, Great Britain James the 1st of England/6th of Scotland came up with the term.

[@Rakned]

It would be cool if somebody threw together some sort of diagram describing Blunt's plan in more detail than it receives in the video.

[@jakefletcher8311]

i found your channel last night and i love it can't wait for the crusades part 2

[@MetalSmith]

Love the use of FFXI Music. Selbina's theme works beautifully here :D

[@joebot86]

Years later, thanks for helping me find the song, I swear the used to say what it was in the end credits.

[@wintermute93]

Great work guys, who knew debt could be so interesting? (But plz talk about caesar too)

[@darkside9020]

Just rewatched this after seeing the film The Favourite (with the incredibly talented Olivia Coleman) it was interesting to names from the film pop up in this, and to see Harley's motivations to lobby for peace in the war with Spain

[@AtlasNovack]

Refreshingly Cynical dude, me too. Love when there’s crossover between EH and other things I’ve seen, or hell, when EH crosses over with EH.

[@SamAronow]

I too got a lot of enjoyment out of knowing the insane, movie-worthy story happening just offscreen.

[@Sarcasmitron]

This series becomes a million times better once you realize Harley is Nicholas Hoult's character in The Favourite.

[@khalidolenja8028]

Years later this is still 9ne of if not my favorite topic covered.

[@KorboQ]

This is real life Spice and Wolf. I'm prepared.

[@wavegunner2323]

This is the best series of all the extra history's.

[@xiuxiu1108]

Am I the only one that thinks that this should be a movie. This is so good.

[@TycoonTitian01]

Who knew that four years later Walpole is still causing mayhem?

[@billzhang1448]

eh... You should consider a better acronym for Extra History. Something better than eh.

[@falconJB]

They should change it to History Extra. ¦]

[@Onebadterran]

Jeremiah B Then a series of History Extra would be HeHeHeHeHe

[@FonVegen]

Onebadterran That sounds like a lot of Helium.

[@AgentClank]

oh my god they're SECRETLY CANADIAN

[@Xzazazazia]

They should call it Super History Unveiling Tutor: Ultimate Publication.

[@troyzema4014]

I freaking love extra history. I don't care what historical event you guys do, the videos are so informative and entertaining I cant get enough

[@lukeblondell6358]

This 3-episode series was awesome! It was fascinating as all hell.

[@infamousempire8302]

It's five episodes.

[@pyepye123]

Suggestion: Han empire in china Yue fei chronicle Great videos. Keep up the good work!

[@PyroMancer2k]

I don't get why what he did would be considered Illegal. You hear all the time of companies buying up stuff on the down low in preparation for a project. This is because they don't want word to get out and the price to skyrocket. It also wouldn't be considered insider trading because he wasn't buying or selling the stocks himself. He was dealing in government debt on the side. He created an artificial shortage of the debt notes to drive the price up which is the same thing other industries do, such as diamond industry, yet it's perfectly legal. Diamonds are extremely common yet a few companies horde them to create a shortage and drive up prices.

[@Necroskull388]

The problem is that he's artificially inflating the demand for a good, not that he's buying low and selling high. The people who end up with those debentures sold land for something that will be completely worthless in a few weeks. Though, since the government was the one who ended up with them, it's actually not that bad in this case.

[@PyroMancer2k]

Dagda Mor Again look at the diamond market. They horde diamonds to create the illusion that it's some rare stone when in reality they are extremely common. Combined with emotional marketing about "Diamonds are forever" and drive up prices. Which is what he did. And as for giving someone something that was worthless, he was not. He was allowing the government to pay off their debt with land. It's like if you take out a loan from a bank. Then that bank sells your loan to someone else. That someone else comes to you and says, "Hay, I'll forget your loan if you sell me your car." Or offers some other trade. Well you do legally own money to the person who holds the note on your loan. And if they are willing to accept some form of payment other than cash you are within your right to do it, even if it's not as good of a deal as it could be. Debt is basically cleared as "paid" at that point because the person owes money to themselves. That is basically what money was originally as it was a bank/government IOU for some amount of gold/silver. Once the debt note (aka paper money) was returned an item of actual value (silver/gold) was given to them, only in this case it was land.

[@Wiccanwolf08]

PyroMancer2k Er...Diamonds are the most common of gems but that doesn't mean that they are "extremely common" in general. They are still quite rare (as all gems are). However, diamonds are only found in certain deposits and companies try to control those deposits as close as they can. Advertising is one thing. However, influencing a market with artificial demand and insider knowledge is definitely illegal. In fact, De Beers couldn't do business in the US (and Canada and other countries) because of this (heard of the Antitrust Act?). John Blunt did something similar. He bought up army notes knowing that the price was going to be driven up by the offer he made. At that point, he could influence the price based on the amount of notes he had and the deal he made. What Blunt did was only a few steps away from being a full-blown Ponzi Scheme.

[@PyroMancer2k]

Wiccanwolf08 The Antitrust Act deals with preventing monopolies. What's talked about in the video has nothing to do with monopolies. Also I meant extremely common among gem stone. And that doesn't negate the fact that those companies which try to control all the deposits do so because they want to create a shortage just like Opec does with Oil market. And again he was manipulating the value of a commodity he did not own. He was not manipulating his stock price or buying/selling stock based on fore knowledge, that's what insider trading deals with. Since the notes are actually more akin to current paper money issued by the government these days. What he did would be more on par with currency manipulation, something governments do all the time to try and gain an advantage on the global trading market. Also I don't think you know what a Ponzi-Scheme is if you think that's what is described in the video, because it's not even close. A Ponzi Scheme is when you take an initial investment from someone and promise a curtain return. Then instead of actually doing some business that earns money you instead spend time finding more investors and use the later investors to pay off the original investors so as to appear that the company is making money. But since the company doesn't actually make anything and eventually you run out of suckers to invest the money dries up and later investors end up losing their money.

[@Wiccanwolf08]

I brought up the Anti-Trust Act in reference to the diamond industry. Creating artificial shortages is something that they don't get away with and with De Beers being barred from the US (at one point) because of this, it is a good example. Also, I think you are under the impression that insider trading only deals with stocks when it doesn't. Insider trading involves trading with ANY company owned security with non-public knowledge. This includes bonds, stocks, and of course, debentures. John Blunt (and therefore HSBC) certainly owned those debentures, as he bought them before making the offer. And he influenced the price of those debentures with the offer that he made, which is certainly illegal and fits under the textbook definition of insider trading. I would be flexible with the "currency manipulation" thing if a debenture wasn't definitely a type of security and that trading a security based on non-public knowledge wasn't definitely insider trading.

[@Thoralmir]

This topic has given me an EXCELLENT idea to make sense of some plot points for a fanfic I'm writing.

[@DJMichael356]

You know you guys have the best channel on KZbin it’s the only one that does anything useful

[@dubbingsync]

I'm gonna be that guy and say Wales is also part of the UK mainland, not everything below Scotland is England.

[@grassy1995]

Wales, at that time, was part of the kingdom of england. They probably should have included that in the video, but they're not technically wrong. :)

[@BulletBill64]

+Aguila701 Funny, the Frankish word for foreigner is Wallah

[@AdrianoAndrade0]

Will Extra History become it's own channel? No offense, but I have no interest on subscribing to Extra Credits, but I've subscribed just for the Extra History series. It would be great for those who are just looking for the Extra History series get to know only of the updates for Extra History and not the whole Extra Credit videos (again, no offense).

[@grfrjiglstan]

+Didi Andrade Well, you can 'like' the playlist they upload the episodes to. It won't notify you when a new one comes out, but if you know the release schedule, you can just click on the link to the playlist in your 'library' menu on the left.

[@lackingcool127]

Everyone else while watching the video: actually using their brains. Me: hah blunt because sword lol.

[@Kreiser_VII]

I keep coming back to this series, it's amazing how many times I've watched it

[@duncanproffitt9399]

I love history and wish to be a history teacher after high school and Extra History is one of my favorite resources to find about different moments of history.

[@Simon-xi7lb]

Wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition.

[@MecMachinic]

0.o wow, Mr. Blunt has very few scruples indeed.

[@DeweyDecimal357]

Why do I keep listening to this episode topic over and over?

[@TycoonTitian01]

Britain in the 1700s “and you get a monopoly, and you get a monopoly, everyone gets a monopoly!”

[@Egonsraad]

when i die tell my family it was walpole

[@oliverholm3973]

My brain hurts... I hate financial stuff...

[@bliffity2692]

Ironically, this is easier to follow for me than the other stuff they've covered.

[@herschalshep]

+Bliffity My friends and I used to watch this series at work during breaks. My Heathen friend found it easy to follow the names of the Roman Empire but I got lost. I found it easy to follow all the names of the Sengoku Judai but he got lost. We both wound up explaining to each other for days after.

[@firetarrasque4667]

I remember no names but it makes perfect sense.

[@sor3999]

To put it simply, he bought up a ton of something worthless, artificially drove up the price of it, and then sold them at max profit. To put it simpler, dumb people who don't really know the value of something got swindled. To put it simplest, bunch of people got ripped off.

[@tibfulv]

In fairness, this scheme was very clearly created to make brains hurt. It's not your regular finance tool. The interesting thing is, while the UK are still paying the old debt, the value of it is so small that it's dwarfed by the debt resulting from the two world wars. And the value of those debts are again dwarfed by the debt from 2008 and onwards. Which incidentally is why the Tories are trying to save money. Turns out the expanding economy and inflation more or less fixes it. +Bliffity It's delightfully entertaining too.

[@beccadendy1436]

I’m watching this so i can understand the wALpOle joke 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

[@matthews5540]

You guys at Extra history are the best!!!

[@prairied0g56]

"But, before we can talk about the South Sea Bubble, we have to talk about the South Sea Company; and before we can talk about the South Sea Company, we have to talk about Great Britain in the early 1700s. First off, there was no Great Britain in the early 1700s." I wasn't sure where this was going at that point. By the way, great video! Very cleverly written, I must say I'm quite excited to see your episode on the Anglo-Zulu war.

[@benaran]

"When you´re busy lending money to the government, who exactly is going to punish you for bending the law?" 7:20

[@1993smoker]

i want to thank the person who made the image at 00.15 it is so awesome and i love it wholeheartedly

[@JayLeePoe]

Mark of a good video, young lady: I'm watching it again having known the history before. Because I think you tell it well and it's a sadly undersold part of our shared histories as Americans.

[@kickassssnation027]

Ah, yes, the NFTs of the 1700s

[@bthsr7113]

With crypto currency, NFTs, and other scams, this series has only become more important.

[@jordancadiz6095]

Idk why but this extra history episode makes me feel warm and fuzzy like Christmas.

[@xenonnboy]

Still the best series this channel has done!

[@ahmedahmedelneanaei2819]

it's a....blunt.....sword

[@FiraDeviant]

Can we talk about the fact that now. almost 7 years later we STILL have not gotten the life of cesar or the spanish inquisition

[@VM-bx8jn]

I don't understand that debt part...exactly WHO did they owe that money to? And WHO are they making the payments to and also HOW are they paying it? And what exactly was going to happen if they didn't pay back the debt? Because if they only started making payments now does it mean they were in debt for so many years without paying anything back but nothing major happened? For me it's the same problem with understanding the US debt. Everyone keeps saying it's 20 trillion dollars but I've no clue about who that money is owed to and how is it going to be paid. I know some part of that debt is owed to China but where did the rest of it come from? How did the amount become so high and why is it still increasing?

[@ufukcangencoglu2279]

Probably their own bank and whoever that holds shares there.

[@Dalpima]

THAT Brit debt is still being paid TODAY?? Holy. Shit. XD

[@Dalpima]

Oh, and it's Scruples*. Not Scrupules....well unless you're French.

[@Meloncov]

Governments often don't actually pay off debt; they just keep paying interest on them until inflation renders the debt tiny. Only once in U.S. history (during the Jackson administration) has the U.S. paid down its debt in full.

[@Dalpima]

Kevin Baker Yeah I remember that. It's the fact that ANY debt going on for this long still surprises the heck outta me.

[@1998anirudh]

Kevin Baker I don't get it ? I thought governments borrow money to pay off debts . I mean , if I buy a 100 $ bond from the government at an interest rate of 10 percent per month lasting for 5 months , at the end of five months i'll have 50 $ but what about the principal amount ?

[@Meloncov]

Pinkie Pie Oh sure, the owner of the debt is always shifting, and individual loaners are paid off, but from the government's perspective it's not going away.

[@anyyoingorange]

Boxer rebellion!

[@Sceptre1]

I do agree, I would love to see a video on that!!!

[@Archone666]

I just got my father to sit through this video series this evening. He quickly saw the parallels to the current economic situation here in the U.S. I think he's finally moving past the notion that one political party is heroically saving the nation from the villainy of the other party, that they're both vile and that the 1% aren't his friends after all.

[@sorcererberoll4641]

I always saw Walpole in videos and I though are they just going to do a series on him yet then I found this little gem of a series

[@jhonjacson798]

OMG GUYS PUT THE SPEED AT 0.5 FUNNIEST SHIT EVER XD

[@blakestewart2700]

Hands down the best series you've done

[@derrickjenkins2455]

Here after the GameStop hedge fund squeeze

[@MrGeorocks]

Not to nit pick but the Flag of Great Britain is wrong. The flag you're using is the one that includes Irelands part of it but Ireland wasn't included on the flag until the 1801 act of union. The red X part of the flag didnt exist until then. It was the cross of St. Patrick from the flag of Ireland laid over the cross of St. Andrew from Scotland. Not starting an argument ,just pointing out something that you might not have known or missed.

[@scarletletter4900]

Who else is here watching as the crypto bubble bursts?