James P. Gorman Quotes
As much as the banking system may not be terribly popular, it is an essential part of the economy.
Gorman, James P. Interview. The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 2012.
Attempting to defend charges that his bank and others were engaged in monopolistic practices:
After the Great Recession the Mexican bankers, like their American counterparts, tightened their credit standards so much that the only people who could get loans were the ones who didn’t need it. If banks do not make loans, it matters not that they are solid institutions that are well capitalized.
This is an oft quoted statement because of the Great Depression which occurred the following year after Strong had passed away. The Federal Reserve followed the lead of President Hoover and did nothing while they watched the nation’s money supply shrink a third over the next 3 years, making a business comeback very difficult. If Strong had lived longer, he might have persuaded the others to increase the money supply and act as the nation’s safety valve. As the President of the New York Bank, he was the first among equals.
The result was regulation of the banks and the creation of the SEC to regulate the stock market, However, over the years, the regulations were not able to keep up with the sophisticated development of new forms of investments and financial instruments and the financial industry were able to speculate with other people’s money in ways that FDR and his reformers never imagined. Finally, even the regulation that did exist was weakened by the policies of the George W. Bush administration and the combination brought about the Great Recession of 2008 where the profits from excess speculation were privatized and the losses, socialized with the taxpayer and the American worker bearing the brunt while most of the speculators were bailed out and made more money than ever. The Obama administration tried to reform the situation, but was unable to put an end to the legal speculation with other people’s money or of having institutions that were “too big to fail.”
James Patrick Gorman is an Australian-American financier who is the chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley. He was formerly Co-President and Co-Head of Strategic Planning at the firm.
