“In 1711,” the item notes, “the Treasury unveiled a scheme to secure government debt by authorising its subscription into the capital of the South Sea Company--government creditors received stock in the company.
When the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, however, thousands of investors were affected and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was sent to the Tower of London.” Although the web site does not elaborate, that eighteenth century chancellor was guilty of dubious practices that appear eerily contemporary.