In this episode of This Week in Wall Street History, Todd M. Schoenberger tells the story of the market panic that gripped New York in March 1907, the episode of the broader Panic of 1907 when runs on trust companies and failed market maneuvers snowballed into a full-blown liquidity crisis. Learn how the collapse of speculative schemes and the run on institutions like Knickerbocker Trust forced J.P. Morgan and private financiers to organize emergency lending — and how the crisis directly led to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. We’ll also connect the dots to today: why shadow-banking vulnerabilities, leverage pockets, and liquidity stress still matter — and how modern central-bank tools and regulation have changed the playbook. Subscribe to CrossCheck Media for more history-packed market explainers and hit the bell so you don’t miss an episode. Advertisers: inquire at Support@BizTalkTodayTV.com.  

• What happened (March 1907): The Panic of 1907 featured runs on trust companies and a crisis of confidence after speculative attempts to corner markets went wrong; one flashpoint in March saw rapid withdrawals and market strains that required private-sector intervention. J.P. Morgan organized loans and coordinated bankers to stabilize reserves and restore confidence.
• Metrics to drop into the script: the 1907 panic produced severe market declines and widespread bank runs across New York trust companies; the episode is widely credited with transforming a recession into a deeper contraction and motivating the Federal Reserve’s creation in 1913.
• Why it matters today: 1907 resembles later crises (2008) in that both featured shadow-banking runs and fragile, lightly regulated intermediaries. The big difference now is an institutional lender-of-last-resort (the Fed), deposit insurance, stronger bank capital standards, and electronic market plumbing — but concentrated leverage, non-bank finance, and liquidity black holes remain a modern vulnerability. Use this history to frame modern debates about systemic risk, central-bank intervention limits, and how quickly markets can reprice risk during stress.

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