The split between Henry VIII and the Catholic Church resulted in a much more liberal view of money in England than elsewhere.  Risk capital began to flow into the British Isles, where businessmen and entrepreneurs found that they could borrow such capital, if they were willing to pay as much as 30 percent per year for such "venture" capital.

It is interesting to note that rates of interest, unfettered and unregulated by government, were as high as 30 percent in 1760, but had generally declined to about six percent by 1830, all in the absence of government regulation.

The development of a new business model, that of the limited corporation that limited the financial liability of partners to an enterprise, brought many investors into the money market, investors willing to risk small sums in exchange for a dividend share of the profits.

In spite of a major crash with the bursting of the famous South Sea Island Bubble in 1720 that wiped out many fortunes and led to increased regulation of the fledgling financial markets, the time was ripe by 1760 for a new expansion of risk capital.

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