The Master and the Sea

The great man, Master of the Royal Mint,
Was possessed by a seminal lunacy
Much to his chagrin, he lost most of his fortune in the damn'd South Sea
After first doubling his money, he became infected with animal spirits
The madness of the crowds, he'd plain forgotten the lesson of the tulips

He doubled down repeatedly,
Fully taken in with the heights of delusion
Plain greed overtook the age's premier scientist,
A whiff of collective hubris
For judgment goes missing in action when in the throes of a mania
The most dubious schemes seem to garner a golden sheen of hysteria

The erstwhile Warden of the Mint,
Who recoined the very fabric of the state
Someone so well versed in finance,
Considered the ultimate sophisticate
Days consulting on the search for Longitude,
Leading the Royal Society
A large retinue of servants,
Evenings entertaining visiting dignitaries

Enter the alchemists, the boosters, the miscreants and the storytellers
So compelling were their promises, there was no doubt returns would be stellar
Well he lost his shirt when the bubble popped,
along with many other notables
History would be an unforgiving judge,
indeed his dismay was ever quotable

That he poured half of his net worth into soon to be worthless stock
To great amusement in the House of Commons and the many press reports
A lesson for the ages this episode,
an alternative reading of Newton's Principle

"I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."

After reading

• Isaac Newton and the perils of the financial South Sea
• The Damn'd South Sea

See also: A Seminal Lunacy

A Seminal Lunacy, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) by Pet Shop Boys
• I'm a Greedy Man by James Brown
• Ez Come Ez Go (What goes up must come down) by Wreckx-N-Effect
• I Wanna be Rich by Calloway
• The Boy in the Bubble by Paul Simon
• Fool's Paradise by Meli'sa Morgan
• Money, Money, Money by ABBA
• Caught Up by Usher
• Easy Come, Easy Go by Steve Lawrence
• Greed by Bill Evans
• It's Going Down by Ralph Tresvant
• Easy Come, Easy Go Blues by Bessie Smith
• Shut Em Down (Pete Rock mix) by Public Enemy

...

Timing is everything
Observers are worried


File under: humour, bubble, hatchet job, economics, finance, panic, credit, depression, history, Newton, culture, observation, perception, greed, hubris, poetry, Observers are worried, toli

Writing log. June 21, 2022