After the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, a ban on setting up joint stock companies lasted for 100 years.

ECONOMIST: Investment banks

Most people attribute the tech-stock boom to the madness of crowds, like the tulipomania of the 1600s and the South Sea Bubble of the early 1700s.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Busang affair was not, first of all, a speculative frenzy such as the Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century or the South Sea Bubble of the 18th.

ECONOMIST: All that glisters . . .

Hundreds of years ago, a book was written about the various bubbles through time: think alchemy, turning lead into gold, the South Sea Island bubble, and my particular favorite, the Tulip Bubble.

FORBES: Home Prices Poised To Move Higher As Fear of Losses Has Dissipated

When the South Sea Company exploded its bubble in much the same way as the recent subprime bubble, the London property rental market was overvalued by 40%.

ECONOMIST: Letters

This has happened in the past, a good example being the South Sea Company in England, which in 1720 caused the first major financial crisis and bubble.

ECONOMIST: Letters