Lords of Finance: 1929, the Great Depression, and the Bankers Who Broke the World (90 page)

and Hitler/Nazis, 2, 403, 420–21,
478
, 480–81, 482–84, 485

image of, 187, 280

and Long Island meeting, 297–98, 326

named Reichsbank president, 191

at Nationalbank, 90, 127–28

and Norman, 192, 193–97, 254, 260, 281, 282, 285–86, 404, 488

at Nuremberg, 485–86

opposition to, 191, 280, 336–37, 420–21

personal background of, 37–38, 39–40, 44, 102, 104

personal life of, 41, 90, 184, 281–82, 484

personality/character of, 8, 89, 103, 104, 196, 206, 281, 285

and politics, 102–4, 285–86, 291, 329

post-war optimism of, 107–8

in post-World War II years, 485–86

professional background of, 36–37, 39–40

reaction to Great Crash by, 369–70

and Reichsbank gold at New York Fed, 379
n

Reichsbank resignation of, 2, 399, 484

Reichsbank return of, 481

and reparations, 107, 109, 129, 191, 207, 215, 284, 285, 297–98, 325–26, 328–29, 333, 335–37, 340, 370, 395–98, 401, 402, 417–18, 501

reputation of, 2, 8, 36, 37, 90, 129, 183, 185, 190, 205, 280, 281, 284, 419, 481, 484

and stock market, 284–85, 325

Stresemann meeting with, 179, 180–81, 183, 184

and Strong, 262, 281, 285–86, 294–95

Thompson interview of, 480

and translating sums of money, 504

on U.S., 395–96

U.S. visits of, 40–41, 280–81, 402

war service of, 89–90

on World War I, 88–89

writings of, 417–18

and Young Conference/Plan, 328, 331–37, 340, 369, 395–98, 401

Schacht, Jens, 41, 184, 486

Schacht, Wilhelm Ludwig L.M., 37–38, 39

Scheidemann, Philipp, 101, 108

Schroders, 29, 30

Second Bank of the United States, 52

Second Dawes Conference.
See
Young (Owen) Conference (Paris, 1929)

Senate, U.S.

and central bank plan, 56

Committee on Banking and Currency of, 316, 440

Meyer confirmation by, 368

and Treaty of Versailles, 138

Serbia, Austrian declaration of war against, 23–24, 29, 35, 48

1718 Club, 133–34, 133
n

Siepmann, Harry, 404, 429

silver, remonetization of, 468

Skinner, Clarence, 146–47, 463, 464

Smoot-Hawley Act (1930), 375, 375
n

Snowden, Philip, 5–6, 223, 344–45, 415, 426, 433

Social Democrats, 3, 101, 124, 419

Socialists, 103, 250, 261, 372, 396, 399, 400, 426

Somary, Felix, 37, 340

South America, 28, 244, 423, 424

Soviet Union, 468, 482, 492–93, 495.

See also
Russia

speculation

and British economy, 224–25, 239, 240

currency, 119, 120

and Dawes Committee, 204

as destabilizing economy, 280

in England, 430

and French economy, 262, 289, 289
n

in Germany, 119, 120, 123

Hoover’s concerns about, 275–76, 277–78, 279

and “real bills” theory, 80

stock market, 270–79, 284–85, 298–99, 303, 309, 310–12, 313, 314, 316–18, 320, 321, 323, 341–42, 343, 354, 364, 501

and U.S. gold reserve, 434

Sprague, Oliver, 469, 472, 473

Stamp, Josiah, 330–31

State Department, U.S., 92, 408, 409–10

Steffeck, Fräulein, 185, 187

Steffens, Lincoln, 137

Stimson, Henry, 382, 383, 408, 409, 410, 430, 475, 476

stock exchanges, European

closure of, 75

suspension of trading in, 29, 30, 48

stock market

bankers’ consortium to rescue, 355–56, 357–60

bifurcation in 1920s, 308

and blame for Great Depression, 501–2, 503

as bubble/mania, 307–24, 325, 341–42, 343–44, 498, 500, 501–2, 503

central bankers concerns about, 291

and characteristics of Great Depression, 498–99

collapse (2000) of, 500

and credit, 318, 323

as destabilizing force, 280

and devaluation of dollar, 462

and divisions with Federal Reserve System, 294, 321

and European central banks, 320

and Federal Reserve Board/System, 270–79, 298–99, 300, 314, 317–18, 320, 321–22, 323–24, 343, 348, 357–60, 501

and financial press, 313–14

folk heroes of, 311–12

forecasts/predictions about, 312–14, 347–52, 353

as gambling, 317

and gold standard, 469

impact on Europe of, 325

and interest rates, 318, 323, 343

Keynes’s views about, 338–39

losses in, 361

and monetary policy, 270–79

Norman’s views about, 6, 339–40

October 1929 crash of, 355–73

panic in, 354–55, 360

reopening of, 456

and Roosevelt bank rescue package, 456

and selling by large stock traders, 342–43

size of U.S., 270–71

speculation in, 270–79, 284–85, 298–99, 303, 309, 310–12, 313, 314, 316–18, 320, 321, 323, 341–42, 343, 354, 364, 501

Strong’s concerns about, 303

“un petit coup de whisky” for, 298, 299

as U.S. national pasttime, 309–11

Strachey, Lytton, 110, 111, 113

Straight, Willard, 133–34

Stresemann, Gustav, 179–84, 187, 188, 190, 204, 214, 286, 335, 395–96

Strong, Benjamin

achievements of, 315

on American character, 277

and American tourists in Europe, 57–58

appearance of,
46
, 50, 152,
242, 290

at Bankers Trust Company, 45, 51, 57–58, 59

and blame for Great Depression, 501, 502, 503

and British economy, 225–29, 294

and British-French relations, 303

and British-U.S. relations, 240

as celebrity, 94

and central bank plan, 54, 55, 56, 57

and credit, 170, 171, 227–28, 278, 293–94, 318

criticisms of, 174, 227, 299, 303, 313

Davison relationship with, 51, 54, 60

and Dawes Plan, 226

death of, 2, 304, 319–20, 321, 502, 503

and divisions within Federal Reserve System, 291, 294, 298

on Europe, 138

European travels of, 9, 45, 47, 91–92, 135, 136, 137–38, 175, 226, 254–56, 258–59, 262, 287, 294, 303, 304

and events leading to World War I, 45, 47, 57–58

and “The Family,” 133

financial affairs of, 59

and French economy, 253, 254–56, 258–59, 262, 288, 300

and French-British relations, 287, 302

and German economy, 280, 285–86, 326

and gold standard, 91, 155, 170, 171, 226, 227–28, 292–93, 294–95, 300, 503

Harrison as protégé of, 454

health of, 93, 134, 138–39, 150, 151, 152, 175, 226, 291, 303, 304

and Hoover, 276

importance of, 2, 8, 58

and inflation, 91, 157

and interest rates, 276, 294, 298, 299–300, 302–3

internationalism of, 132–33, 135, 226, 294

as inventor of modern central banker, 171

and isolationism, 138

and Jekyll Island meeting, 55, 59

and J.P. Morgan & Co. meeting, 48–49

and Keynes, 169–70, 338

leadership abilities of, 58, 91, 175–76

and Long Island meeting, 296

and Mellon, 315

monetary policy guidelines of, 170–71

and Moreau, 258–59, 294–95

and Moreau-Norman disagreements, 292

named governor of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 58–60

and need for coordination among central banks, 91–92

and Norman, 92, 132, 136, 139, 141, 149–51, 153, 168–69, 170, 172, 196, 209, 221, 225–29, 240, 254–56, 260, 276, 277, 287, 288, 294–95, 297, 300, 302, 303, 304, 321, 322, 489

and Panic of 1907, 53, 59

personal background of, 50

personal life of, 50, 51, 59, 92–93, 152–53, 291–92, 303

personality/character of, 8, 58, 91, 92, 319

professional background of, 50

as reflection of national psyche, 8

and reparations, 297–98

resignation from New York Fed of, 303, 304

and role of Federal Reserve System, 271

round-the-world trip of, 139

and Schacht, 262, 281, 285–86, 294–95

and speculation, 276, 278

and stock market, 276–77, 278, 298, 299, 303, 313, 318

and translating sums of money, 504

on Treaty of Versailles, 135

and war debts, 136, 141, 143

Strong, Benjamin Jr. (son), 51, 92, 139, 153

Sumner, Grayson Maximillian II, Lord, 105, 107, 114

Swiss National Bank, 340, 435

Taft, Robert, 319

Taft, William, 319

Tardieu, André, 377, 412

taxes

in France, 83–84

in Germany, 87

as source of funding for World War I, 76, 83–84, 100

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 456–57

Thomas amendment, 461–62

Thyssen, Fritz, 403, 480, 485

Time
magazine, 317, 345, 347, 402, 416, 433, 463, 472

Toynbee, Arnold, 4–5, 404

A Tract on Monetary Reform
(Keynes), 166, 167–69, 170, 172, 204, 229, 263, 264, 337–38

Trading with the Enemy Act (1917), 451

transfer protection clause (Dawes Plan), 327–28, 334, 336, 401

Treasury, U.K., 80, 81, 105, 112, 114, 118, 163, 237, 238, 239, 380, 429

Treasury, U.S., 50, 163, 172, 173, 237, 409–10, 453–54, 492

Treaty of Versailles

disillusionment about, 137

German reactions to, 108–9, 327, 488

and Germany domestic policy, 119

proposed modifications to, 396

and reparations, 108, 396, 398

Strong’s views about, 135

terms of, 108, 114

U.S. rejection of, 138

and Young conference, 333–34

Trichet, Jean-Claude, 171

Truman, Harry S., 476

Truth-in-Securities Act (U.S. 1933), 457

unemployment

as characteristic of Great Depression, 497

and impact of Great Crash, 361, 363

Keynes’s book about, 489–90

Union of London and Smith’s Bank, 74

United States

and American character, 277

and anti-Americanism, 135, 144

and balance of world financial power, 135

as center of international finance, 210

credit in, 91, 157, 171, 277, 278, 390, 436, 437–38, 439, 448, 460, 461, 499

currency stabilization in, 467

and Dawes Plan, 215, 216

deflation in, 157, 463

devaluation of dollar in, 457, 460–71, 473–74, 489

dollar decline of, 48, 49

early years of Depression in, 434–48

economic growth of, 271–73

elections of 1932 in, 441–42

entry into World War I of, 93–94

European loans to, 48

foreign investment in Europe by, 375

French image in, 253

funding for war in, 94

GDP in, 100, 400, 474, 499

gold buying by, 471–73

gold reserves of, 52, 91, 100, 157, 162, 163–64, 163
n
, 170, 171, 172, 229, 344, 375, 377, 378, 434, 435, 460, 461, 462, 501

gold standard in, 95, 157–58, 170, 171, 383, 443–44, 454–55, 457, 458, 460, 461–62, 467, 469, 477

impact of Great Crash on, 383

impact of Great Depression on, 2–4

impact of war years on, 7, 90–91, 100

inflation in, 91, 157, 158, 271, 275, 277, 339, 465, 469

interest rates in, 157, 276, 293, 294, 298, 300, 302–3, 320–21, 341, 371, 436, 475, 498, 499, 501

and international bank proposal, 382

isolationism in, 138, 151, 197

Jews in, 9–10, 352, 386–88, 494

manufacturing/industry in, 448, 474, 479

money supply in, 91, 100

and moratorium on reparations and war debt, 407–14, 417

optimism about 1930 economy in, 375

prices in, 293, 375, 391, 436, 438, 459–61, 462, 463, 465–66

protectionism in, 375, 375–76
n

public confidence in, 456, 462–63

recession in, 227, 293, 350, 365, 501, 503

and reparations, 106, 107, 139–40, 197, 315, 395–96

Shylock image of, 140, 144

as source for funding of World War I, 100

spending for war in, 94, 94
n
, 157

taxes in, 400

unemployment in, 374, 438, 442, 448, 456, 474–75

and Versailles Treaty, 116, 138

and war debts, 90, 94, 130–54, 227, 250, 251, 257, 259, 261, 283, 315, 328, 466–67, 500, 504

world mission of, 132–33

United Steel Limited, 352

United Steel Works, 403

U.S. Steel, 47, 279, 355

Vandenberg, Arthur, 410

Vanderlip, Frank, 49, 54, 55, 56, 58

Vansitartt, Robert, 148, 281

Vissering, Gerard, 191–92

Von Lumm, Karl, 89–90

Wallace, Henry, 443

war

Angell’s views about, 20–22

economic benefits of, 20

war debts

and anti-Americanism, 135, 144

and attempts to rescue German economy, 418

and blame for Great Depression, 500, 501

congressional stipulations on, 140, 142, 143

defaults on, 489

Hoover declares moratorium on, 4

as legacy of World War I, 100

and Liberty bonds, 94

and London Economic Conference, 466–67

moratorium on payments for, 407–14, 417

and Paris Peace Conference, 131

and reparations, 131, 132, 139, 144, 328, 333, 336, 407–14

restructuring of, 315, 326

and translating sums of money, 504

See also specific person or nation

War Guilt clause, 395

War of the League of Augsburg, 77

Warburg Bank, 10

Warburg, James, 458, 461–62, 469, 470, 471, 473

Warburg, Max, 36, 125, 190

Warburg, Paul, 54, 55, 59–60, 312, 458

Warren, George, 459–60, 471, 472, 473, 474

Wednesday Society (Berliner Mittwochgesellschaft), 183

Wells, H. G., 20, 212, 238, 410

Wendel, François de, 245, 265, 266–67, 268, 416

Whalen, Grover, 354, 358

White and Case, 47

White, Harry Dexter, 492–94, 495

White, William Allen, 362

Whitney, George, 355, 437

Whitney, Richard, 355

Wiggin, Albert, 355, 387, 437, 440