1. The feudal era in which banks were above enterprises and government

2. The diplomatic era in which banks became the right-hand man of the US government

3. The casino era in which banks were no longer indispensable

This book is a masterpiece about the American financial dynasty, which looks at the rise and fall of the whole Wall Street and modern financial industry from the perspective of Morgan Consortium.

Ron? Cherno, president of American Writers Association, winner of National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize and American History Book Award, is good at writing biographies of financial, commercial and political figures. Fortune magazine called him "the best biographer in America.

when it comes to U.S. treasury bonds, many people's first reaction is a very safe investment product. Many governments around the world have bought U.S. treasury bonds, and China's holdings of U.S. treasury bonds rank first in the world. What we don't know is that the security of US Treasury bonds is high, that is, the recent thing, specifically, after the United States became the world's largest country. More than 1 years ago, the bonds issued by the United States, whether the federal government or the state government, were not popular in Europe at all. The institutions that issued bonds for these institutions were often at great risk of being scolded to death by creditors. The reason was that Americans often defaulted at that time. Whenever there were some natural and man-made disasters, Americans said, no, there is no money, so don't pay back the money. So the creditor's rights with a face value of one yuan soon fell to fifty cents. Americans are in North America, and Europeans can't do anything about them, but American consortia in London are out of luck, including Morgan Consortium. Today, let's take a look at the history of American cheating through the book Morgan Consortium.

next, I will explain the essence of this book from three parts: the first part, let's talk about the feudal era when banks were above enterprises and governments; In the second part, we will see the diplomatic era when banks became the right-hand man of the US government. In the third part, we are greeted by the casino era when banks are no longer indispensable.

let's begin the first part. The story of Morgan Consortium should start from george peabody. Some students will ask, who is this person? George Peabody has multiple identities. He is a miser and a philanthropist, and his most famous identity is probably the biggest idiot in history. If Peabody had not suffered from a brain cramp, the name of Morgan Consortium should have been Peabody Consortium.

Peabody made his first fortune by saving the bonds of several American states from default. Although Peabody made a lot of money, he was very stingy. He never took a bus with a fare of 2 cents, but only took the cheapest bus with a fare of 1 cents. He was unmarried and had no other relatives, so he found junius Morgan as a partner. junius Morgan was the father of the famous "old Morgan". Peabody intends to leave his consortium to the Morgan family after his retirement.

A few years later, when Peabody retired, he did give the Peabody consortium to the Morgan family. However, the old man planned to engage in charity after retirement, fearing that Morgan would do something bad and ruin the reputation of Peabody consortium, so the old man took the money and company name very unwisely, and Peabody consortium was renamed Morgan Consortium. After retirement, Peabody changed his previous meanness and returned to the United States to become philanthropist, which made a much-told story.

here, junius Morgan is at a loss in the face of Peabody's lack of abundant funds and fame. At this moment, the historical opportunity appears. At that time, France lost in the war with Germany and wanted to borrow money for reconstruction. On the one hand, all the consortia were afraid that France would have no money to pay back in the future, and on the other hand, they were afraid of offending Germany, so they did not lend money to France. Morgan Consortium faced up to difficulties and seized this opportunity to become one of the financial consortia as important as Rothschild family and Bahrain family.

If the Morgan Consortium grew from scratch, it relied on junius Morgan, and the Morgan Consortium changed from an important financial consortium to a financial hegemon in the United States, relying on pierpont Morgan, the son of Junius Morgan, known as "Old Morgan".

Old Morgan led the Morgan consortium into the era of lords. In this era, bankers are the masters of the economic system. They surpass enterprises and the government and exercise the functions of the central bank. They financed canals, railways, steel mills and shipping companies, and provided capital for the new industrial society. In such an unruly competition era, it was bankers who settled disputes between companies and organized large monopoly enterprises to curb competition. As the main intermediary between capital providers and users, they supervise large-scale industrial development. They are equipped with scarce funds, so they are often more powerful than the companies receiving financing and increasingly control these companies.

The biggest difference between pierpont and other bankers is that he is an idealistic person. If the economic model he faces violates his moral sense, he will change this economic behavior. He thinks he knows how to manage the economy and how people should behave. He also opposed the working people to take part in gambling, and thought nudity was immoral. He used his financial kingdom to build his ideal country.

a generation of bankers who were difficult to tame came into being in the feudal era. Their money rolled in like a myth, causing public panic, which eventually led to a political movement to control the excessive influence of bankers.

The public's concern about the excessive influence of bankers, coupled with the death of Morgan Sr., prompted Morgan Jr. to change his strategy, conform to the pace of the times, and led the Morgan consortium into a new era. Let's enter the second part and talk about the diplomatic era when banks became the right-hand man of the US government.

After the death of Morgan Sr., Morgan Jr. inherited the Morgan Consortium. Unlike Morgan Sr., who had an idealistic style of lords, Morgan Jr. didn't intend to continue to be lords. He didn't want to be above enterprises and the government. The public was extremely disgusted with the traditional practice of bankers controlling large enterprises. Morgan Jr. followed the trend and turned Morgan Consortium into a good helper of the government. The diplomatic era came.

Little Morgan introduced a different style to the Morgan consortium. He did what the old Morgan could never do, that is, delegated power to his partners and took charge of the overall situation with a chic attitude. In the diplomatic era of Morgan Jr., private bankers turned into the right-hand man of the government during the two world wars, completing secret missions again and again, on an equal footing with central banks of various countries. Morgan bankers then became power brokers and informal representatives of the government at global conferences. As close friends of kings, presidents and popes, they engage in diplomatic activities under the close supervision of Washington or Whitehall. In foreign countries, they often become the embodiment of government policies; At home, they are still the "traditional bank" of companies, but these companies are still loyal, but they don't need the help of powerful bankers more and more. Morgan partners maintain an exclusive relationship with customers, enjoying a noble and luxurious world, so elegant, so leisurely, free from modern standards.

If the arrival of the diplomatic era is the choice of Morgan Jr. to conform to the trend, entering the next casino era is undoubtedly the helpless move of the Morgan consortium. Let's enter the third part, and look at the casino era when banks are no longer indispensable.

As capital is not a scarce resource, the casino era has arrived. The casino era means that banks can no longer attract customers' attention by providing capital. Only by letting customers have the idea of getting rich overnight in casinos can banks attract the eyes of enterprises and make enterprises willing to become customers of banks. In the casino era, central banks and private banks are no longer the shadows of sovereign countries, but are linked with domestic institutions and become part of the financial system.

In the casino era, Morgan Consortium faced fierce competition in the global market and lost control of its customers to a great extent. At this time, multinational companies overwhelmed bankers and competed with them in capital and financial skills. Institutional investors such as insurance companies and mutual funds have become new counterbalances. Because companies and governments can raise funds in various currencies in various countries, the balance of power has tilted against institutions like Morgan Consortium. With the liberation of old customers, the former gentleman bankers had to run around to get business in order to find new sites. In this new era of fierce competition in finance, the bankers of Morgan Consortium have abandoned the tradition of ruling the financial circles in Britain and America since Victorian times, and have to face the cruel reality that they need customers more than ever before.

Speaking of this, the content of this book has basically been finished. Let's summarize it together:

In the first part, we talked about how Peabody consortium became Morgan consortium, which completed the process from scratch in the hands of old Morgan's father, and then went to glory in the era of old Morgan's lords. In the second part, we see that little Morgan followed the trend and brought the Morgan consortium into the diplomatic era from the feudal era, and the Morgan consortium became the right-hand man of the US government. In the third part, as capital is no longer a scarce resource, Morgan Consortium has to usher in the casino era. In this era, only by giving customers the dream of getting rich overnight can customers need the services provided by banks.

The above is the main content of Morgan Consortium. I hope that through the interpretation of this book, we can understand what kind of financial group Morgan Consortium is. In Morgan Consortium, we can not only see the personal colors of old Morgan and young Morgan, but also reflect the results of the game between all parties. It can be said that Morgan Consortium is a microcosm of American finance.