ABSTRACT
The accusations against Wall Street could be piled as high as a mountain. Wall Street was widely seen, particularly by protectionists, as a center of the freer-trade drive. This view was less frequent than the notion that the promoters of freer trade were in mass-production industries, such as auto. Marxism and populism led the public to identify heavy industry with the banking community which finances it. Bankers view themselves as the servants of business, of all business. The banks were, however, sources of much detailed factual information about foreign economic developments. Many of the big banks which specialize in foreign business—the First National City Bank, for instance—put out bulletins with wide circulation and respectful readership. Top officers of the biggest banks generally hear more from foreign clients than would top executives in other fields. Almost all the top bankers travel abroad.
