Edited by Gerald Boerner
Commentary:
J.P. Morgan, like the other so-called “Robber Barons” of the early 1900s, established and controlled one of the major industries that produced one of the components of our industrialized society — steel. But it went beyond just steel; it came to the control of the raw products, iron ore and coal. And then came the control of the railroads the moved these raw products to the steel-making plants in the north.
His company, U.S..Steel, resulted from the merger of several smaller companies, thus reducing competition. Through this process, Morgan created the first company valued at one billion U.S. dollars. His success in business made him a target of President Teddy Roosevelt’s “Trust Busting” crusade. The net effect was the break-up of U.S. Steel into more competitive units.
Another area in which J.P. Morgan became involved was the banking sector. With his large profits, he started to invest in the banks. However, the lack of a National Bank, the previous National Bank’s charter was allowed to expire by Andrew Jackson, provided a lack of stability in the banking system. This resulted in the Panic of 1907. Morgan then pushed for the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to regulate the industry. Since a majority of the commission that designed the Fed were supporters of J.P. Morgan’s philosophy, the system worked well until recently. But that’s the subject for a future exploration.
So, let’s get to our exploration of J.P. Morgan and U.S. Steel… GLB
These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved[ 3720 Words ]
Quotations Related to J.P. Morgan:
“If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.”
— J. P. Morgan
“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.”
— J. P. Morgan
“When you expect things to happen – strangely enough – they do happen.”
— J. P. Morgan