Strong opinions, weakly held

Times change

In 1895, J.P. Morgan bailed out the federal government by supplying it with $62 million in gold in exchange for bonds. By the end of the month, independent investment banks may be extinct.


  1. The more times change, the more they don’t.

    Populists jumped all over the issue, shouting that it was yet another example of Washington being in league with the international banks and Wall Street. To the Populists it was the perfect example of a conspiracy against the common man.

    Change a few words and the rhetoric sounds exactly like rhetoric being thrown around today.

  2. One of the great trials of politics is navigating issues that are so complicated that very few people understand them. Handling the massive failure that we’re looking at right now is very delicate and challenging, and the small group of people who have a real understanding of what’s going on (I’m not in that group by any stretch) can’t possibly agree on the best course of action. Tough sailing for politicians. I imagine the temptation to just demagogue it is almost impossible to suppress.

  3. Looks like you are right Raffe. Interesting that JP morgan did that in 1895. They also helped the panic in 1907. Of course morgan and his other banker friends created the banking panic and instabilities so he could help set up the fed reserve in later years.

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