The most severe intervention to universal banking was the Glass-Stegall act in the US. The following paragraph gives evidence to its creation which was heavily influenced by the interests of two families and its consequences on the economy once enacted.
5.1 Fight Rockefeller v Morgan
The House of Morgan and the Rockefellers were the two most influential families ever in the US economy and politics. In their peaks of power, they had similarities to Japanese
8 As quoted in Busch, 2008
Page 9 zaibatsus that control large parts of the economy. The Rockefellers came to wealth with Standard Oil but expanded to other industries such as banking later on while the House of Morgan made use of J.P. Morgan’s personal monies and most importantly his strategic…show more content… Soon, Aldrich was at the forefront of supporting the Glass-Steagall act in order to “strike directly at the position of J.P. Morgan and Company” (New York World Telegram, March 13, 1933).12
Aldrich with the help of well-connected bankers like W. Averall Harriman in opposition to the Morgans eventually pushed the act through Congress. Through supporting the separation of commercial and investment banking, Aldrich’s purpose was not to increase profits for the Rockefellers but to raise its rivals’ cost. The separation actually also hurt the Rockefellers. But as the House of Morgan’s strength was built on interlocking directorates to a much greater extent than the Rockefellers, the separation hurt the Morgans more and gave the Rockefellers a decisive advantage.
As a consequence, the Glass-Steagall act was not enacted after careful analysis of the actual issue and weighting up of the advantages and disadvantages of universal banking,…show more content… Some shared a belief that the separation would lead to a healthier financial system although it was controversial. Senator Glass himself who was never a supporter of the act although it was labelled with his name in 1935 attempted to repeal the prohibition on direct bank underwriting. Glass unsuccessfully fought for permitting a limited amount of bank underwriting of corporate debt for commercial banks and therefore re-strengthening the House of Morgan’s