Back in 1907, America's financial system was pretty unsophisticated. There was no central bank, barely any kind of regulatory framework, and no backstop in case of a crash.
Meanwhile, the economy was growing fast, with people borrowing and investing at a dizzying rate. And when people lost confidence in a kind of unregulated lending institution called a trust, panic spread through the economy.
Fortunately, America had a secret weapon. An impeccably connected New York financier named John Pierpont Morgan. We visited his library to learn how the original J.P. Morgan saved the day.
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