THE BUBBLE ACT - ITS PASSAGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON BUSINESS ORGANIZATION

By surveying contemporary sources this article reveals direct evidence for the involvement of the South Sea Company in the passage of the Bu bble Act. The dominant position of the Company and of its national deb t conversion scheme in the affairs of England in 1720 support the conc lusion that the act was in fact a piece of special-interest legislatio n for the Company. The short-term interest that motivated the enactmen t, together with the limited legal and economic effects of the act, mi nimized its significance as a turning point in the long-term developme nt of the English joint-stock company.