Blood drop dollar
The Game of Overdraft World: The Past and Present Lives of Dollar Hegemony
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Gold and Silver War 丨 Bloody War 丨 Fengyun World War II 丨 The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union 丨 Overdraft World 丨 Subprime Mortgage Crisis 丨 End
2. The Bloody War
17.
In this chaotic world, Morgan's mind always came up with such a thing and such a person.
That happened in 1890. At that time, in this young country, a fashionable term appeared, and it was pronounced as "trust" (trust).
The so-called trust, usually defined as the highest form of monopoly - is a large entity composed of many enterprises that produce the same type of product or are closely related to such products, which aims to form a strong control over the sales market, the origin of raw materials and the scope of investment, monopolize all resources with absolute strength, control prices, block competition, and profit for themselves.
As we all know, if such a group exists universally, it will eventually break the development environment of the survival of the fittest, and it is bound to do its best to suppress the working people and cause surging class antagonism in society, thus undermining the political stability of the whole country.
And the thing Morgan remembered—in 1890, the big guys in Congress seemed to be well aware of this hidden danger in the future. Shared concerns led to a common resolution, with 52 votes in favor and 1 vote against after a vote — a symbolic Antitrust Act in U.S. history.
The act stipulates that it is illegal to organize a consortium such as a trust or to plan jointly with two or more people. Anyone who monopolizes or attempts to monopolize, organizes or attempts to organize conglomerates, and conspires with others to trade intercontinentally and foreign trade is also illegal – henceforth, in the face of this Wall Street tycoon, the legend who has begun to expand his industry indefinitely, there is an insurmountable obstacle to the conquest of the world.
And as for the man Morgan remembered—in 1901, after a wave of panic and fear, then-U.S. President William McKinley collapsed in a pool of blood. Before the people at the scene could react, an extreme anarchist had already drawn a successful end to the assassination. It was the third presidential assassination in U.S. history. It is just that man cannot be resurrected from the dead, but the kingdom cannot be left without a monarch for a day. Then, after a wailing, life goes on and the government works. Nothing can stop moving forward. The previous president is gone, and the new president must be quickly replaced. According to the ironclad provisions of U.S. law, in this special case, the vice president will take the scepter directly from the president and order the whole country.
And the vice president of the McKinley era is exactly the person Morgan has in mind at this moment.
His name was Theodore Roosevelt.
(Theodore Roosevelt: 26th President of the United States)
In order to distinguish him from his descendants, we habitually refer to him as "Roosevelt The Elder."
Why do you think of him?
Throughout history, in the first few years, the U.S. Antitrust Act was in fact a symbol. The tone of the regulation is very high, and the department used to enforce the law has only 10 staff. The reasons for this are naturally varied, but in the final analysis, they are all for profit. Trusts have money and government officials have the right to come and go, each taking what they need. It is people who enforce the law, and it is also people who do not enforce the law. Power and money trading, black box operations, you come and go, such a brain mixed together, what rules, what propositions, in the end, not all of them have disappeared?
So, in this context, for big names like Morgan, to some extent, the Antitrust Law is simply a piece of waste paper. It's not worth mentioning.
The big guys are still carrying out their own monopoly plans, expanding their own industries, and seeking the dream of conquering the world.
But this dream, after the presidential assassination in 1901, hit the insurmountable Theodore Roosevelt.
That's right. Roosevelt — for the big guys, it's a tough character.
Morgan at this point must have remembered that since the time of the character's appearance, all the problems have become tricky. This guy first supported a strike of workers working for the trust group, and then suggested that the other side accept the workers' negotiated terms. He then set up a "Bureau of Corporate Investigation" to collect black information on trusts, so that it could be submitted to the Supreme Court at any time as a bargaining chip for further negotiations with the trust group. In his days in power, the trust's every move was strictly constrained.
Just like that, for a while, the wind and cranes, grass and trees are soldiers. Faced with such a ruthless role, the trust group was suddenly confused. The arm that wanted to extend around touched a stone. The dream of conquering the world is almost in vain.
In 1907, Morgan's thoughts, that thing, that person, at this moment, all came to mind. Roosevelt, the old, was the Wall Street legend's first real rival in years. For years, this iron-fisted president has been a barrier that he cannot overcome.
It is also a stubborn stone that blocks his ambitions.
And now, the crisis has come — first 25 million, then 10 million, and in order to save the city, he ran out of all the bullets in his hand.
However, the chaos continues and the collapse continues.
Morgan's face, on the other hand, once again hung a smile.
Is it self-confidence, or pretending to be calm?
At this moment, no one can understand.
18.
October 25, 1907. 25 million ran out, and 10 million ran out—and when the means of civilization no longer applied, the legendary tycoon of Wall Street, John Pierpont Morgan, finally, with his unique wisdom, pushed his thinking on the problem to the opposite side of things.
John Pierpont Morgan: American banker
It's simple to say—this elegant gentleman took the lead in playing the rogue.
Since I don't have any money, I'll borrow some money. But nobody has any money — it doesn't matter, I borrow money from everybody's future.
The logic of the rogue is as simple as that.
At noon that day, according to this line of thinking, Morgan once again held a meeting for the big guys. The participants of the meeting, the First National Bank, as well as the famous Citibank, were among them. After some research and approval from the Treasury Department, the meeting ended, and the Morgan consortium reached an agreement that they would jointly issue a $100 million bond to the market to make up for the big holes in the current crisis that are difficult to fill.
The banknote is the "IOU", just because everyone believes that it corresponds to real money and silver, and this IOU has the ability to pay for real money and silver. And this bond, which is the IOU of the "IOU", is the same reason - as long as everyone believes that behind the IOU, the corresponding banknote, it also has the ability to pay the banknote.
Before this crazy run, the banks really ran out of money. And this bank, which has no capital – there is really no reason not to accept this only straw.
In this context, bonds really have the function of cash. In line with Morgan's vision, at this moment, in order to save his life, even the interbank clearing market has issued a statement saying that it solemnly supports this payment method of replacing cash with bonds.
No money was printed, but it seemed to have been obtained – for a while, the issuance of bonds greatly eased the pressure on the market. That strange smile reappeared at the corner of Morgan's mouth. Confident, calm – At this moment, looking at Morgan's smiling face, someone finally began to believe that in response to this crisis, the legendary tycoon of Wall Street, had long been confident. Although the collapse has not stopped and disaster is still coming, for such a big man who has saved the country from danger, he may have been prepared for it.
Yes, in this chaotic day, he still laughed so strangely.
Even as it all went on, agents on the New York Stock Exchange were still anxiously staring at the overhead screen.
The danger of a world falling apart can still occur at any time.
But in his heart, a game of profound significance has reached the moment when he is about to harvest victory.
19.
Disaster – Whose disaster is that?
Victory – Whose victory will it be?
Surviving in the Days of the Great Depression, every person, every breath, became extremely difficult. Every cry, every tear, seems to have lost its vitality.
From $25 million, to $10 million, to $100 million in bonds — everything is dragging on so hard.
Businesses are still going out of business.
The stock market in New York is still struggling under the violent shock.
It is extremely tiresome that in these exhausted days, the old problems are often not over, and new, more serious problems will rush forward. And this new problem mixes with the old problem, the old problem urges the new problem, all the problems are mixed together, the company goes bankrupt one after another, the enterprise goes out of business, the tragic fate, whose turn is it?
No one can predict.
Such a bad luck, when is the beginning?
No one dares to guess.
Everything seemed muddy.
That scene was so tragic.
And it was in this tragic situation that at the end of October 1907, bad luck once again fell like a meteorite, crashing into the traffic arteries of the financial world — a huge debt of $25 million, dragging a trust company called Mooreand Schley into a bottomless swamp.
At that time, in the United States, there was a company that held the huge iron ore and coal resources in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and was the dominant giant in this industry - if it was a hegemon, it was bound to be inextricably linked to the employment, production and life of the people on one side.
The name of this company is called Tennessee Mining and Iron Company.
Unfortunately, the main creditor of this giant enterprise is the "Moore and Sly" company that is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The rings are connected and the rings are fastened.
A terrible catastrophe, once again hanging overhead.
The problem is already very clear - if the "Moore and Sly" company is forced to liquidate due to bankruptcy, the New York stock market, which is already in danger, will collapse. Then more causes, greater collapses—all of this will surely roar like a great wave, further engulfing the already overwhelmed civic life and further giving rise to the looming crisis of power in this young country.
Looking back, one might be thankful that the United States of the Great Depression was, fortunately, Morgan.
That's right. The tycoon from Wall Street, the "savior" who turned the tide of the tide — in these stormy years, with that strange smile on his face, he shot again.
Or the lavish library, or the smiling owner—on November 2, 1907, at an emergency meeting that wasn't too long, the elites from commercial banks and trust companies received clear instructions from Morgan. The latter firmly told them that in order to save the trust company from fire and water, and even more to save the entire trust industry, they must find ways to raise a huge amount of money in the shortest possible time to fill the big hole of $25 million caused by the "Moore and Sly" company. Otherwise, the crisis will spread further and the financial world will collapse further, and this scene will continue, and everyone present will probably be reduced to ashes after this disaster.
There is not much leeway, there is no way back. They knew what Morgan had asked—they would either accept it or perish.
Then they gave an affirmative answer.
Morgan's face once again revealed a strange smile.
Confidence, or pretending to be calm – that's when everything stops mattering.
Inside the White House on November 3, Roosevelt the Elder looked up in surprise. However, the person standing in front of him, whose surname and name, how tall he is--all this does not seem to matter. For Morgan, who is far away in New York, a big game of chess has finally reached the end of the moment. After so long of entanglement, all the answers will eventually be revealed. At this moment, the representative he sent stood calmly in front of the old Roosevelt, and the insurmountable fierce role of the trust group could not squeeze out a smile that symbolized politeness on the wrinkled face in these crisis-ridden years.
Through this representative, Morgan expressed his tough attitude. At this incurable moment, he argues, the only possible way to stem the crisis is for the U.S. Steel Company, which he controls, to intervene forcefully and buy all the claims of the Tennessee Mining and Steel Company it controls from the collapsing Moore and Sly Company.
But to do so, you must get the president's approval.
Old Roosevelt looked up in surprise.
Allowing U.S. Steel to buy Tennessee's mining and steel claims means that the latter will be merged by the former.
As a president who resolutely enforced the Antitrust Law and a ruthless character in the White House, what roosevelt did not expect was that the businessman from Wall Street dared to speak to himself with such an attitude. Because Morgan himself must have been very clear that making such a request would have already undermined the cold president and harsh principles.
But so what?
After some careful calculation, Morgan believed that in the face of thousands of people who had lost their savings and were angry, even this vitriolous roosevelt would make the necessary concessions in order to safeguard the overall situation of the country.
This is the best time for him to showdown. This is also where he dares to expose his ambitions head-on.
And that tough statement was also his solemn declaration of war on this old opponent.
That's right. He was just going to reach farther away.
He was just going to be the trust who was in control.
For the sake of the stability of the whole country, the tough president finally weakened.
On November 4, after a long period of thought, he finally approved Morgan's request. In the face of the public, the elder Roosevelt solemnly announced that in order to avoid the greater market disaster caused by the special era background, the Anti-Monopoly Law, which was born in 1890, will no longer be applicable from now on.
At an ultra-low price of $45 million, Morgan swallowed up the giant with resources in three places and a potential value of at least $1 billion.
Then came a stunning reversal.
The New York stock market suddenly soared.
Banks and trust companies on the brink of extinction danced.
The desperately scarce funds are back.
The moribund economy is gradually reviving with a virtuous circle that is being reshaped.
The crowd of marchers receded.
The sweaty agent on the New York Stock Exchange finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Everything, so hard, yet so easy.
And in the face of all this, in that luxurious library, that strange smile still hangs in the corner of the legendary, Morgan's mouth...
To be continued
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