In France, the Mississippi Company, under the direction of John Law, became the center of a massive speculative bubble in 1720, with shares skyrocketing before collapsing catastrophically. The crash led to a severe economic depression in France, exacerbating existing financial issues and leading to increased taxes. The Mississippi Bubble, along with the South Sea Bubble, marked one of the first modern financial crises and a cautionary tale about paper money and speculative mania.

The Mississippi Bubble has been the subject of satirical poems and prints, reflecting the French Enlightenment's fascination with and critique of financial speculation. Writers like Voltaire and Montesquieu referenced the event in their works, using it to explore themes of economic folly and the dangers of unchecked ambition. The crash has also been invoked by poets and historians as a symbol of the fragility of paper wealth and the power of mass delusion.