Historian Reacts - South Sea Bubble parts 4 and 5 - Extra History

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See my reaction to part 1 here - • Historian Reacts - Sou...
See the original part 4 here - • England: South Sea Bub...
See the original part 5 here - • England: South Sea Bub...
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#History #reaction

[@masonstauffer5974]

Even Isaac Newton was one of those poor saps how lost a lot of money when the bubble finely burst. He famously said, "I calculate the movement of planets not the madness of men".

[@PraveenJose18551]

Considering how much of an asshole he was during this time, well deserved

[@jean-philippedoyon9904]

Albert Einstein once said: "There is only 2 things i believe is infinite...the universe and human stupidity and i'm not sure about the universe."

[@Great_Olaf5]

I'm somewhat skeptical of this, but it's hilarious whether it's true or not.

[@gamelandmaster3680]

@@Great_Olaf5 He got the quote wrong, but it is true.

[@worfoz]

@@gamelandmaster3680 -Famous internet user worfoz once said: my human stupidity is far too great to comprehend with my little human intelligence. while saying that, he had no idea what he said.

[@itwaswalpole]

"Why did Chris wait in uploading his reaction?" It was Walpole

[@lieutenantpliskin]

Who's walpole? Assassin's creed 4 I assume.

[@alexandersturnn4530]

Fun Fact: The last Episode of the Series was renamed after it's release. Originally, it was titled 'Knight's Ledger'. But due to popular demand by the fans, Extra Credits changed the Title to 'It was Walpole'.

[@YukoValis]

yeah just another thing to blame Walpole for to be honest.

[@rossjohnstone4689]

who killed JFK? it was Walpole and we all know it

[@BlueflameKing1]

Walpole's character appears as a cameo in almost every season after this one. He got memed soo hard that he is effectively the mascot of Extra History.

[@robynsnest8668]

It was Walpole

[@victornunes9845]

Why let a massive difference in timeframe get in the way of a good meme?

[@markuslmc30]

@@robynsnest8668 Yes, that is the joke.

[@AjarTadpole7202]

Which is quite unfortunate given VTH's History with him

[@Parsons360]

Could you give some examples? I don't doubt it for a moment - Just curious to see how they memed it :D

[@GavinVox68]

1:30 I think what you're describing is more of a Ponzi Scheme. A Pyramid Scheme is typically defined as a financial venture that generates most of its revenue internally instead of externally (for example, a company generates more revenue from its employees than its customers [typical of MLM businesses]). A Ponzi Scheme is usually an investment scheme that pays off earlier investors with funds from later investors (e.g. Bernie Madoff).

[@dbach1025]

This series blew me away. Never thought deceit, bribery, and corrupt politicians was a new thing, but the complex speculation and manipulation of the Treasury itself is as impressive as it is reprehensible. Great choice for a reaction. Looking forward to the Antietam content for sure. Hope to be headed there this fall.

[@Longshanks1690]

The Bronze Age ended with the arrival of the Sea People, a msyertious force about whose nature and origin, we know very li- It was Walpole, he did it.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

This story is exactly why some government regulation is needed. The problem with this story, though, is that the government was heavily tied to the whole thing to begin with, so no one was going to do anything to stop it. There's a similar situation happening right now with the Chinese real estate market. China's had a booming housing market for the last 20 years, along with a burgeoning middle class that have the wealth to buy homes (or 2nd homes or 3rd homes as a means of generating wealth). The market has been so booming that housing developers would purchase land from the government and sell thousands of homes on it years before construction even starts. That by itself isn't a huge deal - land developers do that all the time. You sell the land before you begin construction and use the money to fund the construction, no biggie. However, these companies in China were *not* doing that, they were pocketing the sales money, using the land as collateral against more loans from banks to buy more land and start the process all over again. Now, millions of people own homes that don't exist, the developers don't actually have the money to fund construction, the government has basically banned them from getting more loans, and the people who own the non-existent homes are refusing to pay their mortgages. And because the homes don't exist, there's nothing for the banks to foreclose on. The common thread related to this video - The government let it happen for so long because everyone was getting rich. Developers were getting rich, banks were getting rich, the CCP was getting rich. Why do anything about it?

[@andrewjennings7306]

What will the long term results of this be?

[@PalmelaHanderson]

@@andrewjennings7306 Only time will tell. China's government/economy does not operate like ours does. One benefit of not being a democracy is that they can take more drastic/unilateral measures to curb things that would never fly in a western democracy. They can tell an entire section of their economy to shut up and deal with it. So... maybe it won't mean all that much. Maybe it will send half the world into a depression. Who knows. A complete crash of the Chinese real estate market can't mean anything **good** for the world at large, though.

[@crushedscouter9522]

Lol what? The people in government were the corrupt people who screwed over the common man. Why would you want them regulating their own corruption?

[@charlie7mason]

@@andrewjennings7306 Long term? Hopefully the utter and complete collapse of the global economy. Probably eventually.

[@bfure1]

And this highlights the importance of independent review boards with teeth

[@PurpleLionification]

I just wanted to say thank you, I used to really enjoy history in school but didnt pursue it as i didnt see a career there. Discovering your videos and and videos of the people you react too has re-ignited my passion after many years haha Diolch Yn Fawr Iawn :)

[@ylmzsmsk1963]

Commenting because thats what heroes do

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

A hero indeed.

[@jpmagnos]

The suicide rate in times of crisis like that is something that happened, unfortunately, multiple times throughout history. The San Francisco bridge, in the great depression, was a symbolic place where many sadly jumped off to end it all. It’s very sad to see that happening when the responsible for these always walk away...

[@0Cruik0]

I'll say it again, I'm so happy you're covering this. While the scheme's today in the stock market aren't the same there's a LOT of similarities with what's going on today. For example: how many companies are using more than 50% of their profit to buy back shares of their own stock, causing the value to go up instead of crashing like it should when people start selling it en masse, but not really investing in anything that actually reinforces that value, creating another market bubble. The last report I saw said Apple spent $90 BILLION buying back its own stock. And the US Govt in 2020 bought a bunch of company stock and assets to backstop a market crash during the quarantine for those unaware that it happened.

[@francesco8000]

You have to admit that John Blunt was a genius. His understanding of stock market and what you can do without rules was centuries ahead of his time.

[@gabrielaagusts9854]

Now you know why Walpole is mentioned in most EH episodes, keep an eye out for him in your next reactions!

[@ArcticFoxer12]

Really cool. I actually started watching extra credits after I found you and saw your reaction videos. Watched this series on there quite awhile ago. Thanks for being awesome!

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Glad to hear that. Always glad to send more viewers their way.

[@Matt-cz6ti]

It was Walpole

[@David-fm6go]

6:16 "This time is different". You hear it before every market crash. The people who you think would "know best" are often so close to it, they cannot see the forest for the trees.

[@Tzilandi]

Blunt is basically selling Crypto & NFTs at this point, isn't he?

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Yep

[@bluestar7023]

Technically it's not a pyramid scheme which requires recruiting investors who then recruit more investors. They themselves receive fees paid by this next level of participants and a portion of these subsequent fees are sent up the chain to the original members. What South Sea Company did is more similar to a pump & dump or Ponzi scheme where you pump up the value of an asset (like stock) and try to maintain enough money reserve to pay out anyone wanting to bail out. It reminds me of Enron executives who privately (and quietly) sold their share of the company which they knew was going belly-up while publicly trying to convince the investors and their employees that everything is great.

[@Franchise1107]

Suggestion, whenever watching extra history from now on (even go back to other episodes you’ve done too and see) keep an eye out for little cameos of other characters they’ve used in the history episodes, especially Walpole. They also love to put in little winks of “it was Walpole” whenever someone does something sneaky or there’s a mystery for who did something shady or there was a scheme being run.

[@samunykanen5626]

Hello Chris! I've watched your videos for over a year now and been immensly enjoying them. As with your WW2 European travel videos I have to recommend my (biased) opinion of visiting the Salpa line in Finland. It is a very intact fortified line made during ww2 to protect against the USSR.

[@tintim85]

What funny is that around the same time a very similar thing is happening in France! This time ran by a Scots man and called the “ Mississippi company”.

[@Ravenforce3]

And the moral of the story? It was Walpole.

[@rickybrians5235]

The top comment on their 5th episode is a petition to change the title to “It was Walpole” which they then did. Just thought that was pretty cool.

[@adamrousek2200]

I would love to see a reaction to the remaining episodes of The Napoleonic Wars by Epic History TV, including the Napoleon's Marshals series. Chris only watched the first half and left us hanging. Attempt #8

[@jpbreeze44]

Let's hope.

[@ScrappyDoodlez]

Man it’s so magnificent watching people like him fall😂

[@rossjohnstone4689]

I know I've said this before, but thisnis among one of the best history reaction/history in general youtube channals. I recommend taking a look at the Mary seacole or the history of paper money as both are really good. but whatever you choose, I'll still watch :3

[@Ledbottom86]

Glad you had a good trip, ive been waiting for these videos.

[@bthsr7113]

"I hope we learn it someday."

[@johanrunfeldt7174]

From November 1636 to February 1637, Holland had tulip fever, driving up the prices of tulip bulbs to thousands of Gulden per bulb (onion). At the time you could make a comfortable living on 150 Gulden per year. This was all over in three months and there was nobody working bahind the curtains to inflate the market, just a mass hysteria concerning the prices of tulip bulbs.

[@DDlambchop43]

extra history did a series on that too.

[@deyvem5705]

This needs to be a movie in the same spirit as Death of Stalin.

[@331coolguy]

Yes it does.

[@Davey-Boyd]

I really enjoyed this series! I certainly learned a lot. Thank you very much!

[@stevesmith4600]

Thanks for the double. I was just happy to see the series return, so getting a 2-for-1 made my day! 😀

[@annieblancken8201]

I knew NOTHING about this story. Absolutely fascinating and please tell me there’s a movie out there telling this story! If not- there should be!

[@rashi8215]

Great reaction and insight as always. Was just wondering if u were going to continue the Historia Civilis series for Caesar.

[@Thraim.]

In case you didn't pick up on this very minor detail, it was Walpole.

[@shadowwriter329]

After all this crazy adventure that seems stranger then fiction, always remember something important…it was Walpole.

[@napolien1310]

Read the comment of the 5th episode and you read someone pretensioning the viewers to ask the changing of the name of the episode into "it was Walpole" and extra credits did it.

[@stevewright1677]

Not the first pyramid scheme in history. That is usually thought to be the Dutch Tulip bubble. Yes, Tulips. At least you got a nice flower for your money.

[@havehope646]

So entertaining to watch you react

[@TerminalSports45]

Now you need a bingo card for whenever you do an Extra History series for every time Walpole appears. Again I recommend Wartime stories' Champ Fergesun videos, their new USS Indianapolis video, and EH's series on John Snow's war with Cholera

[@TheRevanchrist]

if you liked this financial story from EC, maybe try the Tulip Trade they did a few months ago. summary: possibly the first "NFT" in history

[@wally4golly]

No problem, glad you had a great trip.

[@7Seraphem7]

Love these reactions so much! So any lessons that no on learned.....

[@lightwalker222]

I would REALLY love to see you do their series on the Cuban Missile Crisis!

[@ziernielsen3337]

I beg please do the Justinian and khosrau ones back to back as they are both intertwined

[@Jasta85]

@VloggingThroughHistory you're slightly off, this was a ponzi scheme rather than a pyramid scheme. The ponzi scheme is basically posing as a legitimate investment, but the only profit you make is the money coming in from investors (could also be a pump and dump scheme since that involves artificially boosting a stock price before selling it at the peak before it collapses). A pyramid scheme involves recruiting investors, who recruit more investors, and each higher tier of investors gets some of the profits that the ones below them make. Structurally it's a bit different. But yea, it's all a scam at the end of the day.

[@serathaevistille995]

Every time I see this series somewhere, I can't help but watch all of it if I watch the first video, it's like not being able to look away from a car crash.

[@David-fm6go]

This is the point that Penn Central reached in about 1970 where there were grasping at straws to try and save themselves. Madison Square Garden exists as a result of one of these schemes by the Penn Central leadership (and the Pennsylvania Railroad prior to 1968) to find cash wherever they could in the sixties by selling the above ground air rights to Penn Station. The main difference though is that they were a legitimate business that became massively unprofitable and to cover this up, they engaged in shady accounting, bond manipulation and so forth. The government subsidized the auto industry by building the highways and subsidized the airline industry in indirect ways as well, while heavily regulating the rails, preventing the cancellation of unprofitable runs and the ability to lay off unnecessary workers, so they were just paying people to stay home. Even once bankruptcy ensued, Congress still refused to act until the bankruptcy judge threatened to shut down the rail system serving 1/3rd of the country, then they got the message.

[@JKingSniper]

Loving the Walpole

[@David-fm6go]

6:20 I have long found that image of the stock price arrow impaling Blunt to be hilarious.

[@Dingus343]

No problem, you’ve got your own life and I enjoyed your other history bits you did

[@WiseStrategist]

Please take a look at Extra Credit history series on the Broad Street Pump and/or the History of Policing in London

[@coreytock2139]

Should check out their videos of policing London. The second video is about the fallout of this story.

[@ryhthelegend3106]

Hey I'm early! Thanks for doing this series! Can you do the Spanish inquisition?

[@XanathosZero]

Now that you pull through this financial madness, I think it would be great to check the Resource War series about WW2 also from EH. I mean. You seem to like that topic a lot, and your insight could make me learn more. 😅

[@davidwood8730]

A lot of parallels with the stock market crash of 1929 and the 2008 housing bubble.

[@DeosPraetorian]

They do talk about another instance of this in the history of paper money series

[@catherinewilkins2760]

It's a good yarn, shame he didn't say what happened to the company, it also survived. Regarding the house of Lords and the Lordships, we still have difficulty removing the ermine from their shoulders, they can be kicked out for bringing the house into disrepute, but getting that fur off their shoulders is a different matter.

[@crimsonfucker4167]

8:15 Which is something that all politicians do even today and have done for much longer, trying to pass up the market crash as being the fault of the private sector despite the problem having started thanks to the meddling of the politicians, basically gaslighting their victims while also trying to resell the same solution which got them into the mess in the first place.

[@Sapheless]

All this sounds A LOT like NFTs

[@jenshendrickx2230]

Hello chris, I wonder if you would ever do a video of the lowcountries (or as we call them now the BeNeLux) I''m belgian and I would love to see you react to something of our countries and what happend trough the centurries. Anyway I always love seeing your videos you're doing a really good job!

[@LordJaric]

You should do their Policing London next; the South Sea Bubble had an effect on that.

[@THE_REAL_POLITIK]

So I wanted to address something that was stated in a previous video within this series. There is no federal requirement for representatives, senators, or the President to place assets in a blind trust. There is a tradition for presidents to place assets in a blind trust however they are not legally required to do so. Speaker Pelosi and President Trump have been in some hot water over this issue, Nancy Pelosi in particular as she has been caught using dubiously public information to beat the market. That all said love the channel love the energy, and can't wait for the next series!

[@bluninjadragon]

The phenomenon Madoff try to pull off… if you study the whole scheme it all boils down to artificially producing profits and feeling so invincible that as long as they can get away with it, you keep doing it…

[@phantomtitan9792]

I sure do love a double feature. 😉

[@Time_X_1234]

Hello! Vlogging Through History! Can you please react on a video called "How the US stole the Philippines" by Johnny Harris, it is a history mostly unknown to the US, and also an almost forgotten history among us Filipinos, but would love to hear this history from you!

[@karendebbiejohnson7480]

One could make a super good tv series from the whole thing. The drama, the back-alley deals, the royalty and the time setting would make it very popular.

[@TheLordDracula]

Know Wolpool shows up in like 3 other of their videos. I think the Chinese pirate queen might be one

[@abdqs853]

It was Walpole😆

[@jamescameron4735]

You cannot hate on this man. Even tho I am by modern standards an extreme right wing nationalist. I can respect this man and his input and knowledge of history. I may not agree with his every take but I respect it. Much love and support to VTH. Btw I don't know the guy never talked to him so don't say he supports extreme right wing nationalism, just bc I a supported happen to be one. He has never shown a tendency toward extremes I'm either political direction. He is a very moderate economic conservative but he is mostly left leaning of social issues of race, immigration, and tolorence.

[@tjersero2150]

This was so crazy haha

[@grfu08]

Spoiler Alert! It was Walpole.

[@willmurphy6545]

So at the end something about his reaction to the seminal tragedy which I have not been able to find a playlist for. If anybody could help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

[@robynsnest8668]

Lmao. Should have commented. Uploaded 1 minute ago and would have been first. Oh well. Wait till you learn South Sea Company was in business till post WW2! And the debt...well, the gift that keeps giving. Lol. And here we are at -26,000,000,000,000!!!

[@XanathosZero]

I am crossing fingers for post-credits scene... Oh , i hope, I hope, I hope 🤞🤞🤞

[@XanathosZero]

YEEEEESSSS!! 👍👍👍

[@adam-obaseball]

There are so many similarities between the South Sea Bubble and the Dutch Tulip Craze in the 17th century.

[@benjaminmajeski140]

I’m at Antietam right now! Funny how that works out!

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

You might run into JD from the History Underground. He’s still there.

[@benjaminmajeski140]

@@VloggingThroughHistory I’ll keep an eye out!

[@Dragonite43]

Double Feature! :D

[@Yora21]

Now this is sounding like a Coffezilla video.

[@LordBaldur]

I would call it more of a Ponzi scheme because I don't think there was a lot of multi-level marketing (AKA having the people you recruit go on and recruit others who will recruit in ad nauseam) Instead, you had people invest in the company and then pay those people with the money from later investors.

[@Longshanks1690]

You honestly have to give it to the Austrians, they had absolutely no incentive to be bothered with a British political squabble but they went above and beyond to keep Walpole’s secrets just in exchange for some money. Seems like it would have been easier for them to send him back to Blighty or anywhere else in Europe just so they didn’t have to deal with him anymore. 😂

[@JediSimpson]

19:46 - I share a birthday with him.

[@30whacko11]

@VTH all the best of bad luck for West Brom tomorrow, when you fo up north to Ewood Park. JDT's Blue 'n' White Army, JDT's Blue 'n' White Army, JDT's Blue 'n' White Army 💙🤍🌹💙🤍🌹💙🤍🌹

[@antonincooper346]

I would love to see you do a reaction to videos from History house productions (thnx)

[@ShivamR34440]

W vid

[@starman6468]

W comment

[@ericwilliams1832]

W reply

[@laughsatchungus1461]

hello

[@hazard7232]

HOLY @#&$ A DOUBLEEEEEE

[@shaggycan]

Most of this episode would make a great premise for Shadowrun. Heh Shadowrun 1720 edition.

[@anderskorsback4104]

It was ̶W̶a̶l̶p̶o̶l̶e̶ Lofwyr.

[@gonnaenodaethat6198]

If only financial institutions were held to a higher standard of responsibility for the market relative to the magnitude of fiscal power they hold. More plainly, corporations/businesses have more direct effect on the market then the average joe. I feel like it should be common sense that we need to protect citizens from big businesses through regulating the harshness of debts or even expunging clearly inflated or unfair debt, as well as, protections for people made destitute by economic boo boos made by said companies. We are long past the point of knowing better xD

[@anathardayaldar]

Makes me so sad when bad people get away with it.

[@gonnaenodaethat6198]

Only Britain can be this ridiculous and the have a bad ass like Walpole do even more ridiculous shit to get them out of it yet still work out xD

[@shaggycan]

22:40 I wonder if research could figure out if Emily Blunt was related to him.

[@lexethonor294]

Early christian schisms NEXT !!!

[@J_E_Sandoval]

Kind of like China's modern day real estate investment market. Very sad.

[@stállauff]

q

[@mounibagha3089]

6:05 that’s exactly me when I decided I wanted to ma get married to my ex.

[@laughsatchungus1461]

jebejebejebejode jebejehaaaaa-e

[@BP-Crux]

first

[@alexanderp578]

I like extra history videos but is no one thrown off by the weird voicechanger he is using? it's so annoying to me

[@canadianrocketman3475]

He doesn't use one I don't think