Unfettered "free market" Capitalism led to the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Great Depression [View all]

[marmar]

Published on Apr 28, 2012 by heckofjob


Unfettered "free market" capitalism led to the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

A bit of information about Thomas Lamont of J.P. Morgan:

In 1920, Lamont went on a semiofficial mission to Japan to protect American financial interests in Asia. However, he failed to aggressively challenge Japanese imperialistic ambition to develop a sphere of influence in Manchuria; indeed, he supported Japan's politics until late into the 1930s.

In 1926, Lamont, self-described as "something like a missionary" for Italian fascism, secured a $100 million loan for Benito Mussolini.

Lamont was an influential member of the Council on Foreign Relations and one of the most important agents for the Morgan investments abroad. He was an unofficial mentor both to the (second) Woodrow Wilson and the Herbert Hoover administrations, and informed both the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan.

It's also interesting to note that Lamont's great-grandson is Ned Lamont, who defeated Joseph Lieberman to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Connecticut in 2006, only to lose to Lieberman (running as an independent) in the General Election.