"John Law (baptised 21 April 1671 – 21 March 1729) was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange which did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade. He was appointed Controller General of Finances of France under the Duke of Orleans, who served as regent for the youthful king, Louis XV.
In 1716 Law established the Banque Générale, a private bank, in France and which, one year later, was nationalised at his request to become the Banque Royale, the first Central Bank of France. The original private bank was substantially funded by John Law and Louis XV and three-quarters of its capital consisted of government bills and government-accepted notes, effectively making it the first central bank of the nation and was only partially backed by silver making it a fractional reserve bank. He set up and was director of the Mississippi Company, which was funded by the Banque royale. Its eventual chaotic collapse in France has been compared to the early-17th century tulip mania in Holland. The Mississippi Bubble was contemporaneous with the South Sea Company bubble of England which allegedly borrowed ideas from the Mississippi Company design." - (en.wikipedia.org 31.01.2020)
