Communing with George Sr

Not long ago I mentioned that I was thinking of rebooting my old practice of reading some of a finance book on Sundays. I have kicked this off by reading a gem pulled from the shelves of Mary's dad George Sr, William Wilson's 1976 Full Faith and Credit: The Story of CIT Financial Corporation 1908-1975. CIT, for those of you with short memories, was a non-bank lender that was an innovator in a bunch of branches of corporate finance. For instance, in the 1910s it entered into a pioneering arrangement with Studebaker to finance the purchase of automobiles. The initial terms for the buyer were 33% down and up to eight monthly payments. A little different from today. CIT also financed businesses acquiring cash registers, typewriters, all kinds of stuff. I'm just getting started.

As you imagine, not every page is filled with excitement. But still, there's a lot here. People who hate on finance all the time don't understand how much of a grind it is, how little glamour is involved in so much of it, and how much their ability to get the gewgaws that make them so happy (produced by the "real entrepreneurs" who "make things") depends upon all the soulless drudgery of the proverbial men in grey.