Abstract: | This paper focuses on the activities of the Seligman investment banking firm during an intense six-week period following the outbreak of the panic of 1873 in New York City. Because of their conservative business strategies, the partners did not experience any genuinely serious financial stress. The firm's ability to facilitate monetary transatlantic transfers helped to ease credit conditions in the New York and London financial sectors. The text also cites evidence arguing that the US economy experienced a two-year recession rather than a major depression in the 1870s. |