Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use it (Annotated)

Louis D. Brandeis, a practicing American attorney and subsequent Supreme Court Justice, composed many essays titled "Other Folk's Money and How the Bankers Use It." The book was initially published in 1914, and is mainly a criticism of the functionings of the American financial system at the time. Brandeis opposed the concentration of financial power in the command of a handful, critiquing investment bankers who manipulated the market for their advantage at the cost of average people. The "money trust" was Brandeis' main concern, talking about the disproportional influence of several big banks as well as investment firms over the world's cash as well as credit. He said this meant that transparency was lost and the potential risk increased for the average individual who had minimal influence over just how their money was used by these huge institutions. Also, he mentioned the consolidation of financial information produced conflicts of interest, as the institutions tasked with acting as neutral intermediaries were also interested in the companies they were meant to regulate.