The Panic That Birthed the Fed: JP Morgan, Jekyll Island, and the Secret Origins of the Federal Reserve
Description
In October 1907, the U.S. banking system imploded overnight.
Knickerbocker Trust collapsed, panic spread through New York, and the entire American economy teetered on the edge of destruction.
Only one man could stop it—J.P. Morgan, a private citizen wealthier than the U.S. Treasury.
For three weeks, Morgan personally decided which banks lived and which died, locking financiers in his library until they agreed to save the system.
From the ashes of that crisis came something even more powerful: the Federal Reserve. Conceived in secret on Jekyll Island by seven men representing one quarter of the world’s wealth, the Fed was designed to stabilize the system—but it also concentrated control over money like never before.
In this episode, Arie Van Gemeren explores:
- How the Panic of 1907 exposed the fragility of the U.S. financial system
- The secret Jekyll Island meeting that created the Federal Reserve
- How crises always consolidate power—and how investors can use that pattern to their advantage
- Timeless lessons on liquidity, leverage, and positioning for the next downturn
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