Part 3 Chapter 25 Methuselah Summary and Analysis

Leffingwell serves as chairman of Morgan from 1948 to 1950. The Bretton Woods conference, in 1944, lays the plans for a new world monetary system and establishes the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Much of what the private banks did is now a public function. This is dubbed the Casino Age. "Never again would a private bank such as J.P. Morgan be the most powerful financial agency on earth" (Chapter 25, pg. 486). The world of finance changes with the newly created public institutions taking over from the private ones like Morgan when it comes to loans to foreign countries. The World Bank will not make loans to countries until they settle their debt with private investors. The Marshall Plan is proposed to reconstruct Europe in the post-war period with resources way beyond the scope of Wall Street. The...