The Death Of The Banker: The Decline And Fall Of The Great Financial Dynasties And The Triumph Of The Small Investor (Vintage)

Ron Chernow, the National Book Award-winning author of two astoundingly comprehensive biographies of prominent American financiers, now examines the ultimate decline of such power brokers and the corresponding rise of international money in The Death of the Banker. This surprisingly concise (but no less illuminating) volume opens with an expanded version of a speech on "the dwindling role of the financial intermediary" that he presented early in 1997; it concludes with condensed versions of his earlier books on J. P. Morgan and the Warburgs that show how the essence of financial power has changed in the 20th century. Book Description"For anyone interested in the world behind the business-page headlines, this is the book to read." --Publishers Weekly

With the same breadth of vision and narrative élan he brought to his monumental biographies of the great financiers, Ron Chernow examines the forces that made dynasties like the Morgans, the Warburgs, and the Rothschilds the financial arbiters of the early twentieth century and then rendered them virtually obsolete by the century's end.

As he traces the shifting balance of power among investors, borrowers, and bankers, Chernow evokes both the grand theater of capital and the personal dramas of its most fascinating protagonists. Here is Siegmund Warburg, who dropped a client in the heat of a takeover deal because the man wore monogrammed shirt cuffs, as well as the imperious J. P. Morgan, who, when faced with a federal antitrust suit, admonished Theodore Roosevelt to "send your man to my man and they can fix it up."  And here are the men who usurped their power, from the go-getters of the 1920s to the masters of the universe of the 1980s. Glittering with perception and anecdote, The Death of the Banker is at once a panorama of twentieth-century finance and a guide to the new era of giant mutual funds on Wall Street.

"Chernow . . . delivers a sound, accessible account of the forces shaping capital, credit, currency, and securities markets on the eve of a new millennium. "
--Kirkus Reviews

Reviews:

Published in 1997, this book, marking the modern transformation of banking, is a small addition to the Ron Chernow continuum of great American historical writing about finance; Hamilton, Rockefeller, House of Morgan and the Warburgs. What's next? I can not wait.

Ron Chernow, who has degrees in English literature from Yale and Cambridge, has written excellent biographies of the Rockefeller, Morgan and Warburg families. In this book, which essentially is a spin-off of his other books, he explains how the economic niche that JP Morgan and the Warburgs inhabited, that of the middleman between the very wealthy and corporations and aspiring entrepreneurs, has disappeared in today's world of telephones, fax machines, the internet, the SEC, and mutual funds and venture capital. This book grew out of a talk he delivered on the topic, with a brief summary of the Morgans and the Warburgs appended. Oftentimes talks given at conventions are in part written to fill time; this seems to be the case with this book; anyone with a bachelors in economics could summarize it on a page or two without any loss of meaningful detail, the second part is a short look at the lives of the subjects of his other books. Stylistically, the focus is on the use of elegant English, to such an extent that the book suffers under it. There certainly is a place for beautiful English in historical works, as anyone who has read Macaulay's History of England knows, but not as its own reward. Those who want to familiarize themselves with the economic history of the great merchant bankers in an unthreatening way free of all too much economic jargon will greatly enjoy this book. PhD economists, on the other hand, will probably feel that Chernow ought to get to the point.

Brief, to the point and informative. A great anthology of how the financial world got from where it was to where it is now. Chernow is a master financial historian.

I was disappointed with Chernow's tome on the Morgans, partly because, as he states in this book, it lacked thematic content. I don't think Chernow is right about banking and finance generally becoming 'democratised', even if it is changing. Global finance is still controlled by a very few fund managers and bankers, albeit with an eye to the profit margin. It may be the populace's money, but they do not decide how it gets used, and this is the crucial power in our time. Nevertheless, this is a good introduction to the subject and always readable.

This book provides a fascinating overview of the evolution of banking from its origins as an offshoot of general merchandising to the complex subject it's become today. Chernow skillfully and entertainingly reveals how bankers have gone from being all powerful "Masters of the Universe" to much less exalted financial bureaucrats. Chernow could have gone further, though, and extrapolated to explain how this is the natural product of capitalism, where the only true "Masters" are the vast bulk of consumers.

Death of the banker by Ron ChernowDisappointing when you know the Warburgs, but anyway worthwile reading when it is read as intro to US Banking history. The book is an enlargement of a speech held by the author in earlier times. Thus, it centers in the first part strongly on the development and undevelopment of banking in USA. But reader beware, the title is misleading. Chernow really envisages the personal banker, the likes of Warburg or in particular J.P. Morgan and his power. So the power of banks has shifted, but will never expire as the author himself admits. The short stories of the lifes of the Warburgs and Morgan are nice first reading, but lack depth and analysis. Recommendation : If you lack time, read it, otherwise you are better off with the authors more precise works.Dr. Rudolf C. KingCEO princeandprince.com

While this book serves as a superb guide on the evolution of the Banking Industry over the past two centuries, it's strength is in its description of how bankers have been forced to change their focus towards individual investors and depositors over the last several decades. Very well written!