# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/john-law
# Generated: 2026-08-31T15:46:27.181Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/john-law"
name: "John Law"
slug: "john-law"
description: "A Scottish gambler who fled a death sentence and talked his way into running France's entire economy — then watched it explode in Europe's first great financial bubble."
tagline: "Scottish economist and banker (1671-1729)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/John_Law.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United Kingdom"
  isoCode: "GB"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1671-04-21"
deathDate: "1729-03-21"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.24
  momentum:             15.94012558592023
  historical:           23.57865333333334
  currentAttention:     95.15503875968993
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Academics"
    slug: "academics"
  - name: "Academic"
    slug: "academic"
  - name: "Economics"
    slug: "economics"
  - name: "Investing"
    slug: "investing"
  - name: "Early Modern Era"
    slug: "early-modern-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q312694"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/John%20Law"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%88_(%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%89)"
    title: "جون لو (اقتصادى)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%84%D8%A7_(%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%82%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%DA%86%DB%8C)"
    title: "جان لا (ایقتیصادچی)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Lou_(iqtisad%C3%A7%C4%B1)"
    title: "Con Lou (iqtisadçı)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%9B%D0%BE"
    title: "Джон Ло"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D1%88_%D0%9B%D0%BE%D1%83"
    title: "Джош Лоу"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%B6%CF%89%CE%BD_%CE%9B%CF%89_(%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%8C%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%82)"
    title: "Τζων Λω (οικονομολόγος)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_(economist)"
    title: "John Law (economist)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%84%D8%A7_(%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86)"
    title: "جان لا (اقتصاددان)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_(taloustieteilij%C3%A4)"
    title: "John Law (taloustieteilijä)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_de_Lauriston"
    title: "John Law de Lauriston"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%9C%D7%95"
    title: "ג'ון לו"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%8B%D5%B8%D5%B6_%D4%BC%D5%B8"
    title: "Ջոն Լո"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC"
    title: "ジョン・ロー"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%AF%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9C_%E1%83%9A%E1%83%9D"
    title: "ჯონ ლო"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law"
    title: "John Law"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%88_(%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A)"
    title: "جون لو (اقتصادي)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in Scotland in 1671, Law was a gambler with a head for probability who killed a man in a duel, was sentenced to death, and escaped to the continent. He studied economics and befriended Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who became regent for the child-king Louis XV in 1715. The next year Philippe let him open a private bank that issued notes against gold deposits; by 1718 it was the Banque royale. In 1717 Law launched the Mississippi company to exploit Louisiana and other French colonies, and by 1720 he was Controller General of Finances — the richest man in Europe. The stock boom collapsed that same year; Law fled France and drifted through European cities until he died in Venice in 1729, broke. His system failed as policy but lived on as an early trial of fiat money, its fundamental soundness still argued over.