Lo John

One of the most remarkable inventions Goals - paper money. First began their production of Jean Lass, better known as John Law, nicknamed Pretty Boy. Another of his nickname - Father of inflation.
The famous traveler Marco Polo, who visited China at the end of the XIII century, argued that there to make money instead of gold and silver paper use. He did not believe, but it took three and a half centuries, and paper money appeared in Europe. One of the first (in 1661) they began to produce the Stockholm bank. In 1695 through the efforts of the merchant Jorgen Tour Moulin paper money appeared in Norway. However, the first mass release was made in France by John Law.
Lo was born in the Scottish capital in 1671. When John was twenty, he felt too provincial Edinburgh and moved to London. In April 1694 Lo killed in a duel with the enemy, was arrested and sentenced to death. But escaped from jail by jumping from the tower height of 10 m. His path lay in Amsterdam. Back in London, Lo engaged in speculation with old paintings, jewelry and securities. In Amsterdam, he became more and theorist. John has carefully studied the work of Europe's largest bank of Amsterdam and wrote the book "Money and Trade considered in connection with the proposal to provide the nation with money". Its basic idea was that in order to improve finances and overcome economic stagnation, the state needs special notes, the best state-owned bank. To realize this idea in practice, Lo suggested that Scotland, England, the Duchy of Savoy and the Republic of Genoa, but it was only in demand in France.
. Died in 1715, Louis XIV had left a legacy of great-grandson, Louis XV, Versailles luxury and an empty treasury
. As the new king was only seven years, the state managed the Regent Prince Philippe d'Orleans, not a stupid man, but thoughtless and lazy. As a straw, he grabbed the project Scot, and in May 1716 Lo was granted a patent on the discovery of joint-stock bank with the right to issue banknotes, which are freely exchanged for hard cash. Soon France was relieved. Dying trade quickly began to raise his head. Taxes pay regularly. Banknotes Luo often valued more than gold coins. His bank opened new branches in major cities and in December 1718 was transformed into the Royal Bank of France, becoming, in essence, the central bank.
. The effect of the appearance of notes was so obvious that the Regent insisted all new releases
. His logic was devastatingly simple: if after the issuance of 500 million. livres result was so good, then why not released yet so zheN But think not all. As the paper money bills rate fell, expressed in their prices rose, and wishing to exchange notes on the hard cash was becoming more. Gold and silver reserves of the Bank was melting in her eyes, and May 27, 1720 under the threat of its complete loss of the Royal Bank of France stopped cashing. In August, he was declared bankrupt in November, were canceled his notes, and in December, Lo fled the country.
At the last meeting with the regent Lo said: "I admit that I made many mistakes. But I swear that behind them there was no foul and dishonest motives, that nothing like this will not find in my work ". And it's true. Lo came to France with 1.6 million. livres, and all put into your bank. When France took his ideas, he sincerely felt like a Frenchman, immediately took French citizenship, and even moved from the Protestant faith in Catholic. After immigrating Lo lived on a modest pension paid to his former favorite of the Prince of Orleans. Lo died in 1729 in Venice, where before his death wrote a voluminous "History of Finance of the Regency" - apparently to justify if not to his contemporaries, at least before the descendants. His work was published 200 years, in the midst of the Great Depression.