2 - J.P. Morgan & Co. at Home and Abroad in the 1920s

Summary

What role did J.P. Morgan & Co. play at home and abroad in the 1920s? Answering this question is at the core of Chapter 2. Progressivism saw in the Morgan bank the directing agency of the Money Trust, wielding tremendous power in American life. Power there was, but the chapter argues that notions of a Money Trust directed by the Corner are without foundation. Reality, however, did not matter; what mattered for many Americans was belief in hidden, untrammelled authority. Through the postwar decade the Progressive critique was dampened by prosperity. The chapter argues that, while the Morgan bank was the most important financial institution in American life, its influence was tempered by challengers and by structural changes that were remaking American banking in the 1920s. If Morgan supremacy was under assault, Morgan authority was buttressed by close ties with the victors of World War I, Britain and France. This identification was apparent in the firm’s willingness to participate in the task of assisting postwar European reconstruction, especially Western European redevelopment. The outcome was sustained Morgan involvement in issues such as reparations, war debts, and economic reconstruction in concert with central banks and governments.