Kreuger

"Ivar took the long view. He believed matches were an important staple, like steel or sugar, and that match factories inevitably would be consolidated. He also foresaw that Britain’s abandoning of the gold standard would open up international finance to newcomers, and that the war would not clog shipping lanes as much as people supposed. He thought that if he could manage the match business as well as he had managed construction, he would be able to acquire a monopoly on production. Then, he could raise prices and earn enormous profits. Just as Rockefeller controlled oil and Morgan controlled banking, Kreuger envisioned controlling matches, and thereby joining an élite group of global monopolists."

"He points out that although Kreuger juggled the companies’ finances, he also built solid businesses that still exist today, such as the forestry company SCA and the mining company Boliden. There are financially oriented actors who also build industries."

"The author and historian Gunnar Wetterberg fundamentally praises credit. He emphasizes that it is one of humanity’s great social inventions, which increases the pace of economic development. “To make debt into humanity’s problem is wrong, but it must be kept in check.” It is never the debt itself that is the problem, but rather something in the environment that weakens or completely nullifies the debtor’s ability to pay. “Kreuger was up to his ears in debt, but he would have managed if Wall Street hadn’t crashed in 1929,” says Wetterberg."

"The author and historian Gunnar Wetterberg fundamentally praises credit. He emphasizes that it is one of humanity’s great social inventions, which increases the pace of economic development. “To make debt into humanity’s problem is wrong, but it must be kept in check.” It is never the debt itself that is the problem, but rather something in the environment that weakens or completely nullifies the debtor’s ability to pay. “Kreuger was up to his ears in debt, but he would have managed if Wall Street hadn’t crashed in 1929,” says Wetterberg."

"Among them were stories about the great business legends the Wallenbergs, Kreuger, and Thiel, who lived near the grandparents' Parkudden out on Djurgården. I saw money early on as a way to achieve freedom from the constraints at home."