Remember Big Local Banks?
When I moved to St. Louis in 1990 local banks like Mercantile and Boatman’s were the biggest. These are how U.S. Bank and Bank of America, respectively.
Boatman’s opened for business 164 years ago today.
Boatmen’s began as the vision of banker, entrepreneur, and civic leader George Knight Budd. Budd was born in 1802 to George and Susanah Britton Budd, both of whom claimed prominent East Coast lineage. Before he arrived in St. Louis on a steamer in 1835, he had already traveled extensively in the United States, as well as in the Mediterranean and in South America. Budd brought with him a substantial fortune and cosmopolitan vision. Viewing the thriving commerce on St. Louis’ Mississippi shore, Budd determined that the “Gateway” city was the place where he would settle.
Budd spent his first few years in St. Louis as a merchant before joining with a partner, Andrew Park, to form the private banking firm of Budd, Park & Co. Besides his business interests, Budd was a leader in his community. He sold U.S. bonds during the Civil War, for example, and served as financial editor of the Missouri Democrat. He was also a leader in the First Presbyterian Church and served as a city councilman and as city comptroller in the early 1850s. Budd’s service as comptroller demonstrated how his far-reaching vision surpassed that of his peers. As comptroller, Budd arranged for the city to purchase a tract of land downtown for use as a park. Many citizens viewed the purchase as wildly extravagant, and Budd was even forced to resign because of opposition to his decision. But the purchase eventually proved to be one of the greatest bargains the city ever made; the site became the location of the City Hall and other municipal buildings.
By the time Budd was forced to resign from the comptroller position, he had already started the organization (Boatmen’s Savings Institution) that would become Boatmen’s Bancshares. Budd had faced a formidable wall of opposition to that venture, as well, because it was the first nonstate bank of its kind in Missouri. Budd was motivated to start Boatmen’s Savings largely by his desire to help the industrial and working classes in St. Louis, many of whom were boatmen. Indeed, he saw that many of the rivermen were drinking and gambling their money away, rather than saving and investing it for their families and their future.
Budd wanted to start a bank that would cater to the needs of the working class rather than commercial enterprise. The entire city would benefit, he reasoned, because welfare and charitable needs would be reduced, a financial instrument would be put in place that would direct working people’s money into more productive assets like homes and durable goods, and investment capital would be generated for St. Louis. Opposition to his proposal came from bureaucrats, many of whom wanted to protect the state’s control of the commercial banking business. Those critics argued that a private bank would compete with Missouri’s commercial bank. In fact, the Missouri legislature had shot down dozens of petitions from other people who wanted to start private, noncommercial banks. (source)
In it’s 150th anniversary year, 1997, Boatman’s merged with NationsBank. Â A year later Bank of America bought NationsBank.
It’s just not the same as having the bank based here for a century and a half. It’s no wonder people are protesting with Occupy Wall Street movements all over the world, including here in St. Louis (see Occupy St. Louis)
– Steve Patterson
Actually NationsBank bought Bank of America but kept the BofA name.
Actually NationsBank bought Bank of America but kept the BofA name.
Can you clairfy this comment: “It’s no wonder people are protesting…”Â
Wouldn’t Boatman’s done the same if they could have?Â
Can you clairfy this comment: “It’s no wonder people are protesting…”
Wouldn’t Boatman’s done the same if they could have?
I think it would have been different. Bank executives are states away from the homes they foreclose on. Twenty years ago the board & executives were part of the community, not so now.
I think the whole merger and acquisition trend of the past 30 or so years has hurt St. Louis as much as anything else. So many local companies getting bought out, so many corporate jobs moved out of town, so much large, institutional wealth that could be used to fund/keep local institutions gone. Â With the total collapse of business traffic flying in and out, the main terminal at Lambert is now almost a ghost town compared to years gone by. Â When the Blues, a decidedly lower-end major sport franchise, were recently put up for sale, Bernie Miklasz bluntly informed readers that there was no one in St. Louis who had the money to buy the team.Â
I think the whole merger and acquisition trend of the past 30 or so years has hurt St. Louis as much as anything else. So many local companies getting bought out, so many corporate jobs moved out of town, so much large, institutional wealth that could be used to fund/keep local institutions gone. With the total collapse of business traffic flying in and out, the main terminal at Lambert is now almost a ghost town compared to years gone by. When the Blues, a decidedly lower-end major sport franchise, were recently put up for sale, Bernie Miklasz bluntly informed readers that there was no one in St. Louis who had the money to buy the team.
I think it would have been different. Bank executives are states away from the homes they foreclose on. Twenty years ago the board & executives were part of the community, not so now.
You gotta figure the elimination, or absorption, of banking competition has flown in the face of capitalism, and has a lot to do with the shady banking practices being protested. I’m reminded lately of the anti-trust laws of the Roosevelt days, and that they could probably use some updating. Can we really have a free market when Wal-Mart and Bank of America and other big boys make competition from a smaller company virtually impossible?
You gotta figure the elimination, or absorption, of banking competition has flown in the face of capitalism, and has a lot to do with the shady banking practices being protested. I’m reminded lately of the anti-trust laws of the Roosevelt days, and that they could probably use some updating. Can we really have a free market when Wal-Mart and Bank of America and other big boys make competition from a smaller company virtually impossible?
Huh? Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest. Apple beat out IBM, and it started in a garage. I remember when Steve Ells opened his first Chipotle in a storefront in Denver. There are no guarantees in life, but if you have a great idea and work hard, yes you can succeed, sometimes spectacularly!
>>Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest.<<
Do you really believe that?
Yes. Even major corporations are subject to failure – TWA, Famous-Barr, Lemp Brewing, to name just 3 local ones – there are many, many others. We’re seeing A-B losing market share while multiple small, local breweries are opening up. And to expand on my Chipotle example, Steve Ells opened his first burrito shop in a tiny storefront with no drive-thru, less than a mile away from one Taco Bell and a mile away from another one. His burritos cost more, but tasted better, so he grew from word of mouth, not from a huge advertising budget or lower food costs. Are there hurdles to succeeding? Absolutely! Most small businesses do fail, yet a significant minority do succeed, some for many decades. There are no guarantees of success in life – life is what you make of it.
JZ you sound as out of touch as the people on Wall Street. You
are rationalizing everything to the altar of your beliefs. I’m a Vietnam combat
vet, so should I get ready to fight with weapons in my battle of the “survival
of the fittest”? Yet you must realize
corporate capitalism is as deadly as any war, in fact America is in a state of
war right now. Corporations have bought government and are stealing Americans
blind. The dead and poor left behind are merely collateral damage. It is also naïve
to think the failure of major corporations such as TWA and Famous-Barr are anything but deals that shovel vast amounts of money into the hands of a few (mergers anyone)?
The thievery is so immense it hardly matters what you buy
any more. There are two capitalisms, the small scale which serve communities
and the large scale, that rob cultures of their vitality. The actions of large
corporations are the central problem of America today.
Steve Jobs starting Apple in a garage is a great story; it is
a glimpse of what makes America great. On the opposite end are major corporate
purchasers of political and public policy that allows them to dominate daily life. The
very urban landscape we live in is the result of decades of pushing auto centric
policies over all other approaches for the benefit of a few.
One can choose to blame others for the inequities in life or one can choose to ignore them, and work to succeed in spite of them.
Major corporations “dominate daily life” simply because they are so big and their presence so pervasive. You can get your chips from Frito-Lay, pretty much anywhere, or you can search out Billy Goat Chips and support a local operation. But, without exception, every major corporation was once a tiny start-up. We want to value and reward success, yet there’s obviously some tipping point where success goes from good to evil, at least in the eyes of the OWS folks.
A-B was once one of many, small, local St. Louis brewers; now they’re obviously a major corporation. When will Schlafly move from local to evil corporate? Has Boulevard already become too big? What about New Belguim? Sam Adams? Corona? Is Schnuck’s good or bad? Trade Joe’s? Whole Foods?
Every business will exploit any advantage they can get, and many will work their legislators for more. You may want to blame the evil corporations, I want to blame our legislators, our alegedly “elected representatives” – we get the results we vote for!
“One can choose to blame others for the inequities in life or one can
choose to ignore them, and work to succeed in spite of them.”
or one can work to expose the sources of those inequalities and change them.
“Every business will exploit any advantage they can get, and many will
work their legislators for more.”
and this is acceptable why?
“You may want to blame the evil
corporations, I want to blame our legislators…”
seems arbitrary. why do corporate executives deserve special exemption?
“…our alegedly “elected
representatives” – we get the results we vote for!”
hmmm… i wonder who’s paying-off our “allegedly” elected representatives to do their bidding… but don’t blame the corporations, of course. they’re just doing what comes naturally.
The two big problems are that running for office today takes large sums of cash, and once one gets elected, legislating usually moves at a glacial pace. The cash part turns too many politicians into either whores or yes men, while the glacial part discourages participation by most citizens, creating a vaccuum in both initiatives and oversight. Yes, money talks, but, ultimately, it always boils down to votes. Few of the people “representing” us were appointed – most had to win elections, which means a bunch of us did vote for each one of them, and they’ll need our votes to be reelected!
I don’t blame anyone for asking – we thrive on free speech and crazy ideas. I do blame our legislators for not doing their jobs well. The mortgage crisis (and thus the recession) is a direct result of Republican-initiated changes in the Glass–Steagall Act. Did you oppose those changes? I know that I didn’t – they weren’t on my radar. But, then again, those changes should have very much been on the radar of those directly voting for the changes!
As for the general assumption that every large entity is somehow bad / given unfair advantages, I find that way, way too simplistic. Is Wash. U. inherently evil because they’re one of the largest employers in the region? Especially if they employ more, regionally, than either GM or Walmart? Pawn Shops and Payday Loan places tend to be small operations, but they really aren’t stellar community citizens. And some of our smallest entreprenuers, street-level drug dealers and street-walking prostitutes, are certainly just as evil as any corporation . . . .
“I don’t blame anyone for asking…”
well, i DO blame people for asking for certain things – INTENTION matters. and “asking” is not the appropriate word. it’s “manipulation”.
“I do blame our legislators for not doing their jobs well.”
as do i, but that doesn’t excuse those offering the “cash initiative”. i’m simply calling for proper accountability ON BOTH SIDES. the predominant capitalist ideology in this country elevates business to the level of natural law, such that funneling wealth into the pockets of 1% of the population by any means not explicitly illegal is viewed by those profiting as outside the realm of ethics and morality. and if it IS illegal? just buy a few politicians and legislate new laws! i do not accept that corrupt politicians are somehow more to blame than those holding their strings.
“As for the general assumption that every large entity is somehow bad… given unfair advantages…”
just to be clear, i said no such thing. again, it’s about personal accountability, which corporations by their very nature attempt to diffuse and obfuscate. it is exceedingly obvious that we don’t hold rich criminals to the same standards as poor ones in this country.
“Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest.”
um… yeah that’s a ridiculous and incorrect oversimplification. tell me this: when the “fittest” comprise a handful of monolithic corporations that control a disproportionate amount of wealth and resources through (now essentially unchecked thanks to Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission) political manipulation, where exactly is that healthy competition supposed to come from that drives capitalism?
If you don’t like Walmart or BP or VW or Wells Fargo or how they do business, don’t buy their products. If enough people agree, and do the same thing, guess what, they won’t be in business very long – see Borders or Adobe Red’s for two recent examples. If you want local business to survive and grow, it’s pretty simple, spend your money here and not at the “monolithic corporations that control a disproportionate amount of wealth and resources”. You may spend a bit more, but your money will circulate locally. You may view that as “a ridiculous and incorrect oversimplification”, but I view it as Economics 101.
if only it were that simple. firstly, spending my money at a local business doesn’t stop large corporations from exploiting tax loopholes and buying politicians so that they can write legislation themselves. wealth propagates wealth. period. moreover, there isn’t enough time in a day for most of us to research where every one of our dollars goes (you know, because we have to work 70 hr weeks to earn 1/400th of what, say, Wells Fargo’s CEO earns, and there is no possible way that he works 400 x harder than the rest of us), and companies do their damnest to make sure we don’t find out. that’s why there needs to be regulation – people who DO have enough time to sit down and research where the money goes because that’s their job.
Huh? Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest. Apple beat out IBM, and it started in a garage. I remember when Steve Ells opened his first Chipotle in a storefront in Denver. There are no guarantees in life, but if you have a great idea and work hard, yes you can succeed, sometimes spectacularly!
>>Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest.<<
Do you really believe that?
“Capitalism is all about the survival of the fittest.”
um… yeah that’s a ridiculous and incorrect oversimplification. tell me this: when the “fittest” comprise a handful of monolithic corporations that control a disproportionate amount of wealth and resources through (now essentially unchecked thanks to Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission) political manipulation, where exactly is that healthy competition supposed to come from that drives capitalism?
Yes. Even major corporations are subject to failure – TWA, Famous-Barr, Lemp Brewing, to name just 3 local ones – there are many, many others. We’re seeing A-B losing market share while multiple small, local breweries are opening up. And to expand on my Chipotle example, Steve Ells opened his first burrito shop a mile away from one Taco Bell and a mile away from another one. His burritos cost more, but tasted better, so he grew from word of mouth, not from a huge advertising budget or lower food costs. Are there hurdles to succeeding? Absolutely! Most small businesses do fail, yet a significant minority do succeed, some for many decades. There are no guarantees of success in life – life is what you make of it.
If you don’t like Walmart or BP or VW or Wells Fargo or how they do business, don’t buy their products. If enough people agree, and do the same thing, guess what, they won’t be in business very long – see Borders or Adobe Red’s for two recent examples. If you want local business to survive and grow, it’s pretty simple, spend your money here and not at the “monolithic corporations that control a disproportionate amount of wealth and resources”. You may spend a bit more, but your money will circulate locally. You may view that as “a ridiculous and incorrect oversimplification”, but I view it as Economics 101.
Do you think that some people in our society (the 1%’er’s) make obscene amounts of money? Then how about starting locally and boycotting the Cardinals in the World Seies? What have these millionaires done to enhance the lives of 99% of the people in this region?
Do you think that some people in our society (the 1%’er’s) make obscene amounts of money? Then how about starting locally and boycotting the Cardinals in the World Seies? What have these millionaires done to enhance the lives of 99% of the people in this region?
good idea. that’s why i don’t like baseball (or professional sports in general) and i don’t attend their games. you can say the same thing about hollywood movies and casinos and any number of entertainment options. the disease is widespread.
if only it were that simple. firstly, spending my money at a local business doesn’t stop large corporations from exploiting tax loopholes and buying politicians so that they can write legislation themselves. wealth propagates wealth. period. moreover, there isn’t enough time in a day for most of us to research where every one of our dollars goes (you know, because we have to work 70 hr weeks to earn 1/400th of what, say, Wells Fargo’s CEO earns, and there is no possible way that he works 400 x harder than the rest of us), and companies do their damnest to make sure we don’t find out. that’s why there needs to be regulation – people who DO have enough time to sit down and research where the money goes because that’s their job.
good idea. that’s why i don’t like baseball (or professional sports in general) and i don’t attend their games. you can say the same thing about hollywood movies and casinos and any number of entertainment options. the disease is widespread.
I do not lose sleep over people who are contemptible, greedy pigs, whatever their racket. Like the poor, they will always be with us. We remember some from kindergarten: hoarding toys, unwilling to share, yelling loudest. I do, however, resent public resources and policies being commandeered to suit them, especially when objections to their further, seemingly endless enrichment at the public teat are deemed “class warfare.” The teabaggers and Karl Rove have created (and are emblematic of) an age in which satire is virtually impossible. We are living it.Â
I do not lose sleep over people who are contemptible, greedy pigs, whatever their racket. Like the poor, they will always be with us. We remember some from kindergarten: hoarding toys, unwilling to share, yelling loudest. I do, however, resent public resources and policies being commandeered to suit them, especially when objections to their further, seemingly endless enrichment at the public teat are deemed “class warfare.” The teabaggers and Karl Rove have created (and are emblematic of) an age in which satire is virtually impossible. We are living it.
JZ you sound as out of touch as the people on Wall Street. You
are rationalizing everything to the altar of your beliefs. I’m a Vietnam combat
vet, so should I get ready to fight with weapons in my battle of the “survival
of the fittest� Yet you must realize
corporate capitalism is as deadly as any war, in fact America is in a state of
war right now. Corporations have bought government and are stealing Americans
blind. The dead and poor left behind are merely collateral damage. It is also naïve
to think the failure of major corporations such as TWA and Famous-Barr are anything but deals that shovel vast amounts of money into the hands of a few (mergers anyone)?
The thievery is so immense it hardly matters what you buy
any more. There are two capitalisms, the small scale which serve communities
and the large scale, that rob cultures of their vitality. The actions of large
corporations are the central problem of America today.
Steve Jobs starting Apple in a garage is a great story; it is
a glimpse of what makes America great. On the opposite end are major corporate
purchasers of political and public policy that allows them to dominate daily life. The
very urban landscape we live in is the result of decades of pushing auto centric
policies over all other approaches for the benefit of a few.
Â
One can choose to blame others for the inequities in life or one can choose to ignore them, and work to succeed in spite of them.
Major corporations “dominate daily life” simply because they are so big and their presence so pervasive. You can get your chips from Frito-Lay, pretty much anywhere, or you can search out Billy Goat Chips and support a local operation. But, without exception, every major corporation was once a tiny start-up. We want to value and reward success, yet there’s obviously some tipping point where success goes from good to evil, at least in the eyes of the OWS folks.
A-B was once one of many, small, local St. Louis brewers; now they’re obviously a major corporation. When will Schlafly move from local to evil corporate? Has Boulevard already become too big? What about New Belguim? Sam Adams? Corona? Is Schnuck’s good or bad? Trade Joe’s? Whole Foods?
Every business will exploit any advantage they can get, and many will work their legislators for more. You may want to blame the evil corporations, I want to blame our legislators, our alegedly “elected representatives” – we get the results we vote for!
“One can choose to blame others for the inequities in life or one can
choose to ignore them, and work to succeed in spite of them.”
or one can work to expose the sources of those inequalities and change them.
“Every business will exploit any advantage they can get, and many will
work their legislators for more.”
and this is acceptable why?
“You may want to blame the evil
corporations, I want to blame our legislators…”
seems arbitrary. why do corporate executives deserve special exemption?
“…our alegedly “elected
representatives” – we get the results we vote for!”
hmmm… i wonder who’s paying-off our “allegedly” elected representatives to do their bidding… but don’t blame the corporations, of course. they’re just doing what comes naturally.
The two big problems are that running for office today takes large sums of cash, and once one gets elected, legislating usually moves at a glacial pace. The cash part turns too many politicians into either whores or yes men, while the glacial part discourages participation by most citizens, creating a vaccuum in both initiatives and oversight. Yes, money talks, but, ultimately, it always boils down to votes. Few of the people “representing” us were appointed – most had to win elections, which means a bunch of us did vote for each one of them, and they’ll need our votes to be reelected!
I don’t blame anyone for asking – we thrive on free speech and crazy ideas. I do blame our legislators for not doing their jobs well. The mortgage crisis (and thus the recession) is a direct result of changes in the Glass-Stiegel Act. Did you oppose those changes? I know that I didn’t - they weren’t on my radar. But, then again, those changes should have very much been on the radar of those directly voting for the changes!
As for the general assumption that every large entity is somehow bad / given unfair advantages, I find that way, way too simplistic. Is Wash. U. inherently evil because they’re one of the largest employers in the region? Especially if they employ more, regionally, than either GM or Walmart? Pawn Shops and Payday Loan places tend to be small operations, but they really aren’t stellar community citizens.
“I don’t blame anyone for asking…”
well, i DO blame people for asking for certain things – INTENTION matters. and “asking” is not the appropriate word. it’s “manipulation”.
“I do blame our legislators for not doing their jobs well.”
as do i, but that doesn’t excuse those offering the “cash initiative”. i’m simply calling for proper accountability ON BOTH SIDES. the predominant capitalist ideology in this country elevates business to the level of natural law, such that funneling wealth into the pockets of 1% of the population by any means not explicitly illegal is viewed by those profiting as outside the realm of ethics and morality. and if it IS illegal? just buy a few politicians and legislate new laws! i do not accept that corrupt politicians are somehow more to blame than those holding their strings.
“As for the general assumption that every large entity is somehow bad… given unfair advantages…”
just to be clear, i said no such thing. again, it’s about personal accountability, which corporations by their very nature attempt to diffuse and obfuscate. it is exceedingly obvious that we don’t hold rich criminals to the same standards as poor ones in this country.