After leaving prison with financial knowledge, the guest still returned to street life, showing that knowledge alone is powerless. It was only after a police raid—where his stock account was untouched—that he was forced to apply his learning. This crisis-driven application is what finally made his knowledge powerful.

In an era defined by religious warfare, John Law's conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism was a pragmatic business decision, not a spiritual one. This illustrates a remarkably secular and free-thinking mindset, treating religion as a political necessity rather than a deeply held conviction.

Goldsmiths distinguished between customers wanting specific gold returned (bailment) and those depositing fungible coins. This latter category allowed them to lend out deposits, creating a de facto fractional reserve system long before it was formally institutionalized, revealing the organic origins of modern banking.

The creation of the Bank of England and John Law's monetary schemes were not academic exercises. They were desperate measures to solve the massive national debts accumulated by England and France from decades of war, showing how fiscal crisis is a powerful catalyst for financial innovation.

Central banks evolved from gold warehouses that discovered they could issue more paper receipts (IOUs) than the gold they held, creating a fraudulent but profitable "fractional reserve." This practice was eventually co-opted by governments to fund their activities, not for economic stability.

In the face of a true systemic collapse and hyperinflation, traditional financial assets become unreliable. The most effective long-term strategy is having a plan for physical relocation to a more stable economic region, preserving not just wealth but personal safety and opportunity.

John Law's 1694 prison escape was not a simple jailbreak but a politically sanctioned solution. Faced with pressure from both Law's and his victim's families, the king's officials hinted at the ease of escape, allowing the problem to "go away" without direct royal intervention.

Law's history as a gambler, murderer, and socialite reflects a personality comfortable with high stakes and defying convention. This inherent recklessness was not separate from his genius; it was the foundation for his ability to envision a radical new monetary system beyond the tradition of gold.

Unlike countries with no recent memory of economic collapse, nations like Greece, Spain, and Italy—and potentially now Argentina—that have endured hyperinflation are more likely to elect reformist governments. The population internalizes the cost of fiscal irresponsibility and votes to avoid repeating the disaster.