Talk:John Law (economist)/Archives/2014

External Link Suggestion
This web site http://www.hindsight-books.com/title.php has the full text of "John Law and the Mississippi Bubble, France 1719-1720 By Adolphe Thiers" which I think would be useful to Wikipedia users. No login or payment is required. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Acbd18 (talk • contribs) 11:18, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Economist?
I would say businessman/statesman/monopolist.--Jerryseinfeld 06:37, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Did John Law really "invent" paper money or did he "borrow" the idea??
The article states and proves with an image that around 1718 John Law endorsed paper bank notes but any one can look up in a Canadian Bill catalog and discover that the intendant in New France (now Quebec Canada) in 1685 (ole johnny was 14 at that time....) endorsed playing cards to be used for money until the ship (with coins...) came in. There fore the first paper fiat money in the western world... But I will bet that the Chinese were way earlier.. old John boy got the paper money idea around 1707..the time frame seems to me to allow him plenty of time to have met the retired intendant???? Geeze there are a whack of papers here....99.241.43.123 (talk) 05:55, 19 November 2007 (UTC) Don't believe it? check this out..www.quebecoislibre.org/06/060319-2.htm

Need ambiguaiotion page?
It is not on top Radio Guy (talk) 01:19, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.19.182.249 (talk) 15:22, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Somebody (who knows how) should correct link to disambiguation
If there are articles on other persons named John Law (and there would be a disambiguation page), the advice should refer to "John Law" and the link should go to "John Law (disambiguation)" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.19.182.249 (talk) 15:27, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

New file File:John Law by Alexis Simon Belle.jpg
Recently the file File:John Law by Alexis Simon Belle.jpg (right) was uploaded and it appears to be relevant to this article and not currently used by it. If you're interested and think it would be a useful addition, please feel free to include it. Dcoetzee 02:09, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Name?
This must be the same Law mentioned in Kenneth Clark's Civilisation (episode 10, "The Smile of Reason," around 16:30). He is referred to as "David Law." He was probably "John David Law" or something to that effect? Is this source enough to warrant adding the additional name in the article? PGPaulson 03:10, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I would say, no. The fact that Clark called a character peripheral to his text by a forename that apparently nobody else does is more likely to indicate a mistake than detailed research on his part. Splicing Clark's with everyone else's name would be a step too far; it would need solid sourcing. In Law's case, the birth record (available via Scotland's People) is indexed as Law, John and, while the 17th century script is not easy to interpret, shows no sign of the word David. AllyD (talk) 07:28, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

Would like to add: He said to be the father of finance. He is responsible for the use of paper money. He was both a gambler, a brilliant mental calculator and and expert in statistics and originator in economic theories. He would win card games by mentally calculating the odds.

In economics, he is known for his two major ideas: 'The Scarcity Theory of Value' and 'The Real Bills Doctrine of Money'.

He established the Banque Générale in 1716 as a state-chartered bank with the power to issue paper currency. In the same year, he established the Mississipi Company, to help the French colony in Louisiana.

Law's pioneering note-issuing bank was extremely successful until it collapsed and caused an economic crisis in France and Europe.


 * Saying that Law's pioneering note-issuing bank was extremely successful at any point would be to equate the success to Ponzi schemes or the debt that was traded around by banks in 2007-2008. The foundations of their schemes centered around manipulation and exacerbated an already debilitated economy. Anything can be considered successful from a point prior to their utter failure.

John Law was run out of town by mobs of rioters. The only success to be had was that financing through futures was an idea that still shapes the way in which investors operate.

Did John Law really invent paper money, or did he "borrow" the idea??
The history says that John Law invented paper money,the surviving examples dating 1718 as per the image in the article... When I read this in all the text books and such I always felt somewhat queasy... A


 * Law did not invent paper money. He simply promoted and popularized the idea of France using them when there was a shortage of metal to supply coins for the country. The idea behind paper money and the backing of currencies (basically a promise of sorts by an entity) went behind his idea for financing companies through purchasing of debt while keeping money worth constant through Louis of gold and silver écus. Though defaulting was not considered in his idea, the concept of issuing money by buying debt was practiced extensively by the US government through monetary easing. Law basically practiced this, however in reverse, with private companies not in debt but the government which would eventually collapse the capital poured into his endeavors.