When I prophesy the death of the banker, I fear that instead of provoking weeping and lamentations, the news will be greeted by the heartless reader with a sigh of relief and loud, prolonged hallelujahs. For is there any creature so unloved on god’s green earth as a banker?
-The Death of the Banker, Page 3
Ron Chernow is better known for his best-selling biographies of the great historical banking dynasties—Warburgs, Rothschilds, Morgans (fear not monkeys, reviews are forthcoming for those when I finish them). In sharp contrast to those 6-700 page behemoths is this 150-pager that reads like a long essay.
The main subject is the tracking of the strength of the investment banker relative to his clients (i.e, investors and corporations). This combination of political and financial clout reached its zenith in the person of James Pierpont Morgan himself, who famously acted as lender of last resort in the Panic of 1907 (there was no Fed then). The guy basically told Teddy Roosevelt, “Have your people call my people.”
Think about that for a second. A sitting President had to leave Washington to ask a single private individual to bail out the economy.
Remember that next time someone spins a conspiracy theory about Goldman Sachs controlling the world (you can take the tin foil hat off now, Midas).
Chernow measures investors, bankers, and corporations’ influence in the form of three pillars, with the bankers in the middle. J.P. Morgan was the tallest that middle column would get, both objectively and relative to the other two.
After J.P. Morgan, he discusses how that middle pillar waned while the other two waxed. He also talked about the decline of “relationship banking” that was prevalent in Morgan’s time and other competitive forces causing this shift.
Some of the Amazon reviews for this book were hating on Chernow’s style of writing, saying that it’s too flowery for the subject matter (see above passage). Others thought he tried to squeeze in his other 3 major biographies and failed at it. At certain points “Death of the Banker” does sound a little professorial, but when you’re talking about economic theory that’s to be expected.
It’s definitely informative and has a good mix of history, finance, and politics relevant for the b-school student and the investor, who can finish it in a few days before turning to the other Chernow bios, as I plan to.
Read up, monkeys!
Monkey’s Review 1: Barbarians At the Gate
Monkey’s Review 2: The Financier
Monkey’s Review 3: Decision Points
Monkey’s Review 4: Debunkery
Monkey’s Review 5: When Genius Failed
Monkey’s Review 6: Monkey Business
Monkey’s Review 7: Death Of The Banker
Monkey’s Review 8: A Journey
Monkey’s Review 9: Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker
Monkey’s Review 10: The Quants
Monkey’s Review 11: All About Hedge Funds
Monkey’s Review 12: The Unlikely Disciple
Monkey’s Review 13: Adventure Capitalist
Monkey’s Review 14: The Hedge Fund Book
Monkey’s Review 15: Investing In Hedge Fund of Funds
Monkey’s Review 16: Hilarity Ensues
Monkey’s Review 17: The Prince
Monkey’s Review 18: Markets Never Forget (But People Do)
Monkey’s Review 19: The Money Culture
The House of Morgan should be required reading. For those that are interested, all of Ron Chernow's books are worth the read - particularly Alexander Hamilton. You will be able to read the framework upon which he devised the US monetary system and will able able to see how absolutely brilliant (among other traits) he was. The US Coast Guard still, to this day, abides by the code that he wrote when he founded the organization. Chernow's newest book is on George Washington.
I really enjoyed reading The House of Morgan, its an amazing book!
Mind changing the links to the other book reviews? When I click I get this error page: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.wallstreetoasis…
instead of just http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/barbarians-at-the-gate-a-monkeys-re…
Mind changing the links to the other book reviews? When I click I get this error page: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.wallstreetoasis…
instead of just http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/barbarians-at-the-gate-a-monkeys-re…]
Good catch! Fixed it; thanks for pointing it out.
Praesentium explicabo explicabo rerum. Beatae sapiente rerum vero labore.
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