Lessons from the Great Depression Part XXVI: Time to put the Bankers and Wall Street on Trial

Pecora Commission Where Art Thou? Lessons from the Great Depression Part XXVI: Time to put the Bankers and Wall Street on Trial. “Legal chicanery and pitch darkness were the banker’s stoutest allies.”

The Pecora hearings have been making the rounds recently. The United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency was setup during the Great Depression to examine the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The initial inquiry started in March 4, 1932 and was heavily politicized. After all, we were talking about the Great Depression here and the public was outraged. The actual investigation itself was launched by a majority-Republican Senate but was criticized by the Democratic Party as an underhanded way of gathering up populist anger. The bottom line was the American public was suffering. The suffering of the vast majority of Americans stood in stark contrast to the high rolling lifestyle of bankers and those on Wall Street. The banking syndicate had brought the U.S. economy to the edge and took it over. At first the initial investigation had very little traction. That is until Ferdinand Pecora, assistant district attorney of New York County was hired to put together and bring forth the final report. (more)