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Financial Crisis of Our Time

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Submitted By sushe4ever
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FINANCIAL CRISIS OF OUR TIME
WHAT HAS HAPPENED
In September 2008, the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the collapse of AIG, following the demise of Bear Stern and the near collapse of Merrill Lynch triggered a financial crisis. The result was a global recession which cost the World tens of trillion of dollars, rendered 30million people unemployed and doubled the national debt of the U.S. But this crisis was not an accident. It was caused by an out of control calamitous financial industry. In the aftermath of the Great Depression, the US enjoyed a 40 year economic growth without a single financial crisis. The Financial industry was tightly regulated. Critical to these regulations was The Banking Act of 1933, known as the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banking activities from Investment banking activities, meaning Banks with consumer deposits were prevented from engaging in risky investment banking activities. Most regular banks were regular businesses and they were prohibited from speculating with depositors’ savings. Investment banks, which handled stocks and bonds trading, were small private partnerships. In the 1980’s, the financial industry exploded. The Government, with support from Economists and Financial lobbyists started a 30 year period of financial deregulation. In 1982, the Government deregulated the Savings and Loans companies allowing them to make risky investments with depositors’ money. By the end of the decade, hundreds of Savings and Loans Companies had failed. This Crisis cost caused tax payers $124Billion and caused many their life savings. Sadly we failed to understand the impact of deregulation on the financial industry. Deregulation continued through the 1990’s. By the late 1990’s, investment Banks had consolidated into a few gigantic banks, each of them so large that their failure could threaten the whole system and the

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