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Enterprise and Society 1:659-674 (2000)
© 2000 Business History Conference

Article

The money Pitt: Lord Londonderry and the South Sea Bubble; or, how to manage risk in an emerging market

L Neal

328 David Kinley Hall, University of Illinois, 1407 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
E-mail: l-neal@uiuc.edu

Business history forces historians and economists to take a wider view of individuals' actions as economic agents. The risk-managing strategies of Lord Londonderry (also known as 'the Money Pitt') during the financial boom and bust of the South Sea Bubble illustrate this theme well. He dealt in staggering sums for the time but hedged his bets along at least three dimensions: the pecuniary, the personal, and the political. His skills, however, remain unappreciated because he could not manage the ultimate uncertainty always present in human affairs - when will fate bring down the final curtain on one's partners, family and friends, patrons, or one's own person?


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