Origins of the Federal Reserve System : money, class, and corporate capitalism, 1890-1913

The rise of corporate capitalism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries has long been a source of lively debate among historians. In __Origins of the Federal Reserve System__, James Livingston approaches this controversial topic from a fresh perspective, asking how, during this era, a "new order of corporation men" made itself the preeminent source of knowledge on all significant economic issues and thereby changed the character of public and political discourse in the United States. The book seeks to uncover the roots of the Federal Reserve System and to explain the awakening and articulation of class consciousness among America's urban elite, two phenomena that its author sees as inseparable. According to Livingston, the movement for banking and monetary reform that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System played an important role in the general transition from entrepreneurial to corporate capitalism: it was during this struggle for reform that a group of business leaders first emerged as a new corporate social class. This interdisciplinary account of the social, cultural, and intellectual __Origins of the Federal Reserve System__ offers both a discussion of the sources of modern public policy and a persuasive study of upper-class formation in the United States. The book will interest a wide audience of historians, economists, political scientists, sociologists, and others who wish to understand the rise of America's corporate elite, the class that has played a large-if not dominant-role in 20thcentury America.

The rise of corporate capitalism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries has long been a source of lively debate among historians. In Origins of the Federal Reserve System, James Livingston approaches this controversial topic from a fresh perspective, asking how, during this era, a "new order of corporation men" made itself the preeminent source of knowledge on all significant economic issues and thereby changed the character of public and political discourse in the United States.

The book seeks to uncover the roots of the Federal Reserve System and to explain the awakening and articulation of class consciousness among America's urban elite, two phenomena that its author sees as inseparable. According to Livingston, the movement for banking and monetary reform that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System played an important role in the general transition from entrepreneurial to corporate capitalism: it was during this struggle for reform that a group of business leaders first emerged as a new corporate social class.

This interdisciplinary account of the social, cultural, and intellectual Origins of the Federal Reserve System offers both a discussion of the sources of modern public policy and a persuasive study of upper-class formation in the United States. The book will interest a wide audience of historians, economists, political scientists, sociologists, and others who wish to understand the rise of America's corporate elite, the class that has played a large-if not dominant-role in 20thcentury America.

Contents Preface Abbreviations Introduction: Banking Reform in Theory and History PART I: The Decline of CompetitiveEntrepreneurial Capitalism, 188g-1gos CHAPTER 1. The Great Stalemate: The Sources and Character of Late-Nineteenth-Century Crisis CHAPTER 2. The Wheel Turns: The Emergence of Corporate Capitalism, 1890-1905 PART II: From Market Power to Cultural Authority: The Resolution of the Money Question, t8g4-1goo CHAPTER 3. From Countercyclical Theory and Practice to Sound Money, I894-96 CHAPTER 4. Money and Modernity: The Making of the Gold Standard Act, I897-I900 PART III. From Theory to Practice: Toward a Central Banking System, 1900-191 2 CHAPTER 5. Money and Capital Markets in the Modern Economy: Managing the Corporate-Industrial Price System, I900-I9o6 CHAPTER 6. Forging a Consensus on Central Banking, 1906-8 CHAPTER 7. The National Monetary Commission and the New Agenda of Reform, 1908-12 PART IV. Money, Class, and Politics CHAPTER 8. The Making of the Federal Reserve System APPENDIX A. Glossary of Financial Terms APPENDIX B. A Note on Class Analysis Index