Chapter 30： financial crisis

Del looked at the telegram handed to him by the guard, which described the outbreak of the crisis in detail, which was another act of death on Wall Street.

Nick Burke Trust Co., the third largest trust company in the United States, raised large amounts of debt and bought shares of United Copper Corporation in the stock market, but this failed, which triggered a panic on Wall Street and rumors that Nick Burke was about to go bankrupt. Banks took back their loans one after another, the stock market plummeted, the people ran on them, and several major banks were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Eder looked at the news and he was more vigilant about capital. In later generations, the two best examples of state control of capital and capital control of the country are China and the United States. As a person with experience in later generations, capital has no borders. It will follow profits. As long as it cannot find high profits in one country, it will look everywhere in the world.

Edel can now take advantage of the fact that Romania’s capitalists have not developed and grown, and can preemptively complete the strategic layout. Let the people feel the benefits of the royal family’s capital, and they will not let the People’s North Capital dominate. Anyway, Romania has only a population of 7.5 million. It can be driven by the royal family’s capital and the people will be grateful to the royal family. In later generations, it is also called national capital. In fact, Edel also followed the pattern of the largest developing country in later generations.

In the following days, the American financial crisis continued to ferment, and New York suddenly began to widely rumors that Nick Burke, the third largest trust company in the United States, was about to go bankrupt. , Rumors quickly spread throughout New York like a virus. Panicked citizens lined up at the gates of various trust companies all night to withdraw their deposits. The bank required the trust company to repay the loan immediately, and the trust company that was drew on both sides had to borrow money from the stock market, and the interest on the borrowing rushed to a sky-high 150%. By October 24, stock market trading was almost in a state of suspension.

Morgan appeared as a savior at this time. When the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange came to Morgan’s office for help, he said with a trembling voice that at least 50 traders would go bankrupt if he could not raise $25 million before 3 pm, and he would have no choice but to close the stock market. . At two o'clock in the afternoon, Morgan called an emergency bankers meeting. In 16 minutes, the bankers raised enough money. Morgan immediately sent someone to the stock exchange to announce that the loan interest would be open for supply at 10%, and the exchange immediately cheered. Only one day later, the funds for emergency relief were exhausted, and the interest rate grew wildly again. Eight banks and trust companies have closed down. Morgan rushed to the New York Clearing Bank to request the issuance of bills as temporary currency to cope with the severe cash shortage.

On Saturday, November 2nd, Morgan began his long-planned plan to "save" the Morsley Company, which is still in turmoil. The company has fallen into debt of $25 million and is on the verge of bankruptcy. But it is the main creditor of the Tennessee Mining and Iron Company. If Morsley is forced to go bankrupt, the New York stock market will collapse completely, with disastrous consequences. Morgan invited all the big names in New York's financial circles to his library. Commercial bankers were placed in the East Library, and the trustees were placed in the West Library. The panicked financiers were anxiously waiting for Morgan to arrange for them. fate.

Morgan knows that the iron ore and coal resources of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia owned by Tennessee Mining and Iron Company will greatly strengthen the monopoly of the steel giant, American Steel, which Morgan has founded. Under the restriction of the anti-monopoly law, Morgan has always been unable to speak to this big piece of fat, and this crisis has created a rare merger opportunity for him. To get this piece of fat, Morgan had the last hurdle to pass, and that was the old President Roosevelt who was unambiguous about antitrust. On the evening of Sunday, November 3rd, Morgan sent someone to rush to Washington, DC, to get the president’s approval before the stock market opens next Monday morning. The banking crisis caused a large number of companies to close down, and thousands of angry people who lost their life savings formed a huge political crisis. Old Roosevelt had to rely on Morgan's power to stabilize the overall situation. At the last moment, he was forced to sign the alliance under the city. There are only 5 minutes left until the stock market opens on Monday!

Morgan took the Tennessee Mining and Iron Company at an ultra-low price of US$45 million. According to John Moody’s assessment, the potential value of the company was at least US$1 billion.

Obviously, this financial crisis is another well-planned and targeted blasting.

The impact of this incident on the United States is that the United States established its own central bank and the birth of the Federal Reserve. It is a pity that the central bank of the United States is completely controlled by bankers. This is a sign that the United States is controlled by capitalists.

The decline in production caused by this crisis is more serious than ever. Calculated by monthly figures, steel production dropped by nearly 60%, pig iron was 38%, locomotives 69%, freight cars 75%, and new railways 46%. In 1908, new construction contracts were reduced by 23%, and more than half of the steel trust companies shut down. The number of unemployed exceeds previous times.

This crisis quickly spread to other countries. Britain, which has close economic ties with the United States, bears the brunt. The depth of the crisis is second only to that of the United States. In 1907, the consumption of ferrous metals decreased by 20%, the output of pig iron decreased by 11%, the output of steel decreased by 19%, the tonnage of newly built ships decreased by 48%, and the consumption of cotton decreased by 14%. From 1906 to 1909, the price of pig iron fell by 25%.

The crisis is also very serious in Germany. In 1907, the consumption of ferrous metals decreased by more than 20%, the output of steel decreased by 13.1%, the tonnage of completed commercial and industrial ships decreased by one-third, the construction industry suffered the most losses, and the volume of business decreased by 36%. Accordingly, the output of cement and other building materials industries decreased. Nearly half. Light industry losses are not small. Exports of cotton yarn and cotton cloth fell by 18%, and cotton cloth prices fell by 23%. It is worth noting that despite the reduction in the consumption of ferrous metals, the price of ferrous metals has increased by 14% due to the high degree of monopoly in the industry.

In 1907, French industrial production fell by 6.5%. Among them, the silk spinning industry has the worst crisis, and silk fabric exports have decreased by 24%. The crisis not only worsened the lives of workers, but also affected the lives of teachers and government officials, and trade union activities became active. In 1909, at the Paris University of Posts and Telecommunications, telecommunications were interrupted.

During this period of time, Edel watched the crisis continue to ferment, but he couldn't help it. We can only control the capital in Romania, and there are no capitalists in Romania now, and the royal family can be regarded as the largest capital in the country. The biggest impact in this crisis is Volkswagen, which was originally expected to have 35,000 vehicles in the European market. In this crisis, many entrepreneurs canceled their orders, so that the current Volkswagen company has not dared to produce trucks.

After discussing with the king, Romania announced the establishment of its own central bank, the National Bank of Romania. Foreign banks with financial operations in Romania need to pay 15% of the deposit for the Romanian business to the central bank. Domestic banks are weak and will merge into three medium and large banks. 15% of the deposit must be paid to the central bank.