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Content by Cate Long
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Reviews Written by
Cate Long (New York)
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Powerful Bankers before the Federal Reserve, Jun 16 1998
"The House of Morgan" can serve as a proxy for the history of the American financial system before the establishment of the Federal Reserve. Morgan's influence on the world financial system was demonstrated by the raising of loans for the English, French and German governments. Morgan was also well known as the sponsor of many railroad bonds at the turn of the last century. As such the bank was instrumental in building the infrastructure which allowed the industrial revolution to bloom with enormous strenth here in America. It is said that at the turn of the century JP Morgan had underwritten half of the securities traded on the NYSE. Morgan's great strength was a function of the American/British arms of the bank and their ability to transfer capital and wealth between between the two nations. Each nation has had economic dominance in different periods of history. Yet many view JP Morgan as a villian or a greedy banker with dollar signs in his eyes. Ron Chernow's five star treatise on Morgan reveals him to be a deeply religious man who was intent on bringing orderly rationalization to the capital markets and restraining competition which he believed to be counter-productive in capitalist economy. He and his bank were deeply private and this work does a wonderful job of gently pulling back the curtain at 23 Wall Street. For those interested in the capital markets a must read!
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