Legend in the financial world──Mr. J.P. Morgan
JPMorgan Chase, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, is just one of many companies linked to JPMorgan. Basically, J.P. Morgan could be said to be the primary driver of the wave of industrial consolidation in the United States that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What insights did he offer about the financial system?
Author: GUDORDI | 2023-03-24
JP Morgan is definitely a pivotal figure in the American financial industry–and in the history of global financial industry. (Shutterstock)
Continuing from the above: “The cultural differences between the East and the West are a matter of life and death”
” Finance is based on trust . ” ─ John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913)
Before I knew it, I had written more than 20 articles in this series. In the opening article, the author talked about the historical background of the Hong Kong issue, and then talked about the analytical framework and philosophical foundation of this column: the views of the “Book of Changes” and “Tao Te Ching”; Mill, Jung, Freud The thoughts of many different people, including De, Adam Smith, Fu Xi, King Wen, Laozi, and Confucius, have been quoted in this column.
Basically, independently speaking, each of the above can be a very profound and abstract theory, which is essentially not suitable for being discussed too much in the mass media. I still consider putting them forward, mainly based on three considerations. First of all, the author believes that the issue of “Hong Kong Legend” has an important and subtle relationship with the overall situation of how Chinese culture adapts to modern society, and how Western values and businesses integrate into Eastern society. Therefore, it is worthy of using the best of both Chinese and Western methods. thoughts to process. On the other hand, I also hope that readers can understand the source of my opinions. In addition, the author believes that the above ideas are some very precious assets in the history of human civilization and deserve to be known and appreciated by more people.
The status of an international financial center is the most basic and important
For the time being, the previous articles can be said to outline a framework for the issue of “Hong Kong Legend”, that is, the future of Hong Kong largely depends on whether it can make good use of its own quite unique cultural genes, so that no matter what the external environment is, What kind of transformation can it still find room to further develop its international financial center and international city undertakings, and can gradually open up new areas (such as “cultural city”, “art city”, etc.) are all in the author’s opinion. Hong Kong is a direction that should have certain potential for exploration and development).
Among these many roles, the author believes that the international financial center is the most basic and important, so I plan to talk about this aspect first. The first thing to discuss is, what does it mean to be a truly international financial center? This is not a simple question. The way many people deal with it is to appeal to the authorities, look at the annual rankings of some authoritative institutions, or find some common success factors from recognized international financial centers such as New York and London, and then take a look How many of these factors do Hong Kong have, or what is Hong Kong’s position relative to other cities? Regarding these rankings and discussions, the author has always advocated that they should only be used as a reference and should not be taken too seriously. Many people are already familiar with these mainstream views. The author does not intend to add anything additional. Instead, I tend to put forward some views that not many people will mention. I hope it can stimulate some thinking from different angles and allow the public to understand the relevant issues at a deeper level. question.
Regarding the issue of finance, the author’s views are mainly based on three aspects. The first is financial and economic history; the second is personal observation and experience; the third is the lives and views of people throughout the ages who have extraordinary knowledge of the nature of financial markets, the most important of whom should be JP Morgan, whom I mentioned at the beginning. gentlemen.
JP Morgan was once a powerful figure in the American financial world
Regarding JP Morgan Chase, I believe many people have heard the name of one of the world’s largest financial institutions. However, what most people may not know is that JPMorgan Chase is just one of many large companies related to Morgan.
Basically, J.P. Morgan could be said to be the primary driver of the wave of industrial consolidation in the United States that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At least more than 40 companies, including U.S. Steel, General Electric, Aetna Life, Western Union, International Harvester, and the Erie Atlantic Coast Line, were all spearheaded by J.P. Morgan or had many connections with him. It can be said that in the history of American economics, JP Morgan’s role is far more than the head of an important financial institution. He can even be said to be an important force behind the entire American business community and the American economy. In the author’s opinion, to understand the corporate history of the United States, we must know him.
JP Morgan’s one-liners
The importance of this “JP Morgan brand” is especially obvious in the financial industry of his old bank. Basically, to understand today’s global financial market, we must not understand the US financial market, but to understand the US financial market, we must pay attention to the influence of JP Morgan. Basically, in the American financial world more than 100 years ago, JP Morgan could definitely be called a figure who could call the shots and even cover the sky with one hand. Whether that was good or bad, J.P. Morgan left an indelible mark on American financial history.
From a certain perspective, the establishment of the US Federal Reserve in 1913 can be seen as a reaction to JP Morgan’s handling of the 1907 US banking crisis. In 1929, the U.S. Federal Reserve had only been established for more than ten years. At that time, no one in it had the insight and ability to control the entire U.S. financial market. Therefore, after the stock market crash, many misjudgments occurred, making things worse. It gets worse. It is said that if JP Morgan had still been alive at that time (he died in 1913), the impact of the stock market crash in 1929 might not have been greater than the stock market crash in 1987…
All in all, JP Morgan is definitely a pivotal figure in the history of the American financial industry–and also the global financial industry. The sentence mentioned at the beginning of this article is what he said. It is the most simple, direct and to-the-point explanation of the deep structure of the financial industry so far. It is not only thought-provoking, but also has the effect of explaining and outlining. We’ll talk about that next time.
“Hong Kong’s Legendary Future” Series 27
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
