A Killing In The Market

A Killing In The Market 📈

There's more than one way the stock market can cause depression.

By 1821, the Greeks had enough of the Ottoman empire, so they started a rebellion – which ain't cheap. Luckily (or unluckily) for the Greeks, their bid for independence was pretty popular with the London elite.

The Greeks and money men of England worked out a deal: the Greeks could get quick cash by selling bonds and the money men could make a buck in the process. The only fly in the ointment was that the Greeks had to actually win the war to be able to pay back their debts. No biggie, they're good for it!

Then the Greeks started losing. Badly.

Uh-oh.

Because the war was so popular in England, the British economy became intertwined to these "rebellion bonds" pretty heavily. When the Greeks started biffing it with the Ottoman Empire, England had two choices:

1. Lose lots of money (or)
2. Send war ships to finish the job

Guess which option they chose?

Sure, the backup of an international fleet helped the Greeks win their independence but they couldn't repay the British when the dust settled.

As a result, the Greek economy was basically owned by England for decades.