Unfettered "free market" capitalism led to the 1929 stock
market crash and the Great Depression.

"Those who do not remember the
past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

A bit of
information about Thomas Lamont of J.P. Morgan:

In 1920, Lamont went on a
semiofficial mission to Japan to protect American financial interests in Asia.
However, he failed to aggressively challenge Japanese imperialistic ambition to
develop a sphere of influence in Manchuria; indeed, he supported Japan's
politics until late into the 1930s.

In 1926, Lamont, self-described as
"something like a missionary" for Italian fascism, secured a $100 million loan
for Benito Mussolini.

Lamont was an influential member of the Council on
Foreign Relations and one of the most important agents for the Morgan
investments abroad. He was an unofficial mentor both to the (second) Woodrow
Wilson and the Herbert Hoover administrations, and informed both the Dawes Plan
and the Young Plan.

It's also interesting to note that Lamont's
great-grandson is Ned Lamont, who defeated Joseph Lieberman to become the
Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Connecticut in 2006, only to lose to
Lieberman (running as an independent) in the General Election.