Thomas William Lawson (1857–1925)

History of Financial Advice Collection. Thomas W. Lawson was a stock promoter who then turned to muckraking journalism and novel writing. In Frenzied Finance, he mounts a lengthy accusation against the stock-underwriting syndicate that had put together the Amalgamated Copper combination in 1899, which then spectacularly failed amid stories of massive corruption. At first sight, it seems as though Lawson argues that the entire system of finance constitutes a conspiracy. In Lawson’s case, however, “the System” is merely his designation for a tightly knit cabal involving many of the leading figures of Standard Oil, of which Lawson himself was initially a member.
Lawson’s depiction of “the System” has little to do with the discovery of an abstract and impersonal system underpinning the work of Wall Street and is, instead, more a litany of personal grievances and self-justification for his wayward actions. Although Lawson shared with Progressive critics a concern for the systematic corruption of high finance, the plots of both Frenzied Finance and his novel, Friday, the Thirteenth (New York: Doubleday, 1907), are motivated by a very personal desire for revenge. His repeated warnings about impending market panics often had the effect of bringing about the very thing he seemed to fear; what’s more, at times benefitted financially from making bearish bets on the sly.… (más)