The Rise of the British Empire was made possible by the failure of the French King in the 18th century to understand the importance of Trust in the relationships governing finance, commerce and governance.

1. How TRUST built an Empire
And changed the world forever

2. Today English is spoken almost everywhere…

3. In the 18th century however the world was
different:

4. The struggle between two nations:
France was bigger with more population, large
overseas territories, more local wealth and a
larger, more experienced army. Its Livre was the
coin of the New World.
Britain was struggling against its larger rival. Its
smaller territories were less wealthy. It was an
island nation with a small population. Its coin
was the British Farthing.

5. On paper France should have won, but…
Struggling to recover from the extravagance of
Luis XIV, the then King, Luis XV agreed to the
shares of the Mississippi Company (established
1719) to be sold on the French Stock Exchange.
The Company, formed to take advantage of the
‘wealth’ of the lower Mississippi valley (home
to alligators and swamps), floated shares
valued at 500 Livres each.
By 1st August 1719 they were trading at 2,750
Livres and by 30th August they were worth
4,100 Livres each. France had its first bubble.

6. The results were predictable:
The company’s shares were not backed by
assets. As big investors got wise and got out
at its peak they began to take small ones
with them, causing a panic that caused a
run.
The French central bank tried to stabilize
prices by buying shares and printing out
more and more money in order to continue
to do so. Eventually it too, run out of
resources.
Share prices collapsed. Millions of small
stakeholders lost everything. The French
economy imploded and the Mississippi
Company closed down.

7. The real casualty was Trust
Investors realized the complicity of the
French Government in the Mississippi
Company scheme. As a result France found
it difficult to borrow money and when it
did the interest rate was crippling.
So crippling, in fact, that by 1789 50% of
France’s GDP would go to service its loans,
creating a chain of events that directly led
to the French Revolution.
British merchants on the other hand found
it easy to borrow money and establish
joint-stock companies to colonize the New
World.
The London Company, the Plymouth
Company, the Dorchester Company and
the Massachusetts Company established
colonies around the time the British East
India Company was colonizing India.

8. Increased trust led to easier financing and the
establishment of the world’s greatest Empire

9. Leading to:
• The predominance of English as the international language
• The establishment of Roman Law
• The close ties between science, government and commerce
• The emergence of Capitalism
• The rise of the military-scientific-industrial complex
• The spread of democratic values as the primary means of establishing
trustworthy commercial environments

10. There were other ingredients of course
• New business practices
• Technological breakthroughs
• The growth of city populations
• Royal decrees to deal with population pressure
• The inheritance laws favoring first sons in 17th
century Britain
Each of these, led to developments that
required the building of relationships
that would have been impossible in a
low-trust environment.

11. The importance of Trust was a lesson that
many governments around the world, learnt
But it has to be re-learnt in our times.

12. The 21st century is emerging as one of the most
critical times to re-establish Trust because it simply
affects: everything!
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Branding

13. And it is not always easy to understand
Though, on that score, I obviously have some suggestions
that would help 
@davidamerland