Repealing FDR’s Law Helped to Create Bloated Banks

[Joanne98]

These images speak for themselves. Lobbying in the years leading up to 1999 for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed G-S), which sought to protect people’s commercial deposits from being fodder for risky investments, was successful at helping to create new kinds of mergers and new kinds of bigness in the markets.

With the introduction of a new version of the Glass-Steagall Act by likes of Senator McCain, it’s a good time visit how big have these banks gotten since its repeal in 1999. With more time and resources, even more interesting graphs can be made — looking forward to any collaboration (just send me a note or leave a comment).

Obama knows that studies show that highly concentrated markets mean banks have more risk in their portfolio, right? He can lead the country with brilliant solutions to these problems.

I’ve taken graphs from around the web and overlayed when Glass-Steagall was repealed. I made the third graph below.

http://www.anewwayforward.org/blogs/571

[Vidar]

1. K&R.