Please do a serious study of the facts. There's no reason that any thinking person in 2014 should still believe that the CRA was to blame for the 2008 financial crisis. It is supremely ludicrous that anyone ever bought that line.
Just start by comparing the total value of subprime loans at that time with the total value of derivatives, CDOs, etc. built upon them. Then, see where that takes you. It's been covered ad nauseum, so it won't be hard to find.
>Consider the FDIC
I have. Bank runs aren't cool. Neither is depositors losing all of their money.
>it's enabled plenty of new forms of reckless behavior on the part of financial institutions
That's why you regulate with something like Glass-Steagall. It worked pretty well for what it sought to prevent until it was repealed, which really set up the 2008 meltdown. And the S&L crisis? Well, that's why the Fed shouldn't double the interest rate over night. You can't just have actors do any mindless thing, then blame unrelated regulation for not mitigating the consequences. The FDIC didn't have anything to do with creating or escalating that crisis. The eventual scale of that crisis was a product of outright fraud.
In fact, Congress had deregulated the thrifts (S&Ls) just prior to the crisis, which opened the door for that fraud [0]:
>Congress finally acted on deregulating the thrift industry. It passed two laws, the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982. The deregulation...significantly expanded [the thrifts'] lending authority and reduced supervision, which invited fraud.[6] These changes were intended to allow S&Ls to "grow" out of their problems...Other changes in thrift oversight included authorizing the use of more lenient accounting rules to report their financial condition, and the elimination of restrictions on the minimum numbers of S&L stockholders. Such policies, combined with an overall decline in regulatory oversight (known as forbearance), would later be cited as factors in the collapse of the thrift industry
>Regulation...should be looked at as a tool of absolute last resort when it comes to addressing market issues.
So, in summary, you believe, for example, that Glass-Steagall has no value and that banks should be able to place ultra-risky market bets on exotic, esoteric derivative products, using their customers' deposits? And, further, that those customers should not have any form of insurance or recourse?
It's stunning that someone could look back at 2008 and conclude that less regulation is the solution.
Just start by comparing the total value of subprime loans at that time with the total value of derivatives, CDOs, etc. built upon them. Then, see where that takes you. It's been covered ad nauseum, so it won't be hard to find.
>Consider the FDIC
I have. Bank runs aren't cool. Neither is depositors losing all of their money.
>it's enabled plenty of new forms of reckless behavior on the part of financial institutions
That's why you regulate with something like Glass-Steagall. It worked pretty well for what it sought to prevent until it was repealed, which really set up the 2008 meltdown. And the S&L crisis? Well, that's why the Fed shouldn't double the interest rate over night. You can't just have actors do any mindless thing, then blame unrelated regulation for not mitigating the consequences. The FDIC didn't have anything to do with creating or escalating that crisis. The eventual scale of that crisis was a product of outright fraud.
In fact, Congress had deregulated the thrifts (S&Ls) just prior to the crisis, which opened the door for that fraud [0]:
>Congress finally acted on deregulating the thrift industry. It passed two laws, the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982. The deregulation...significantly expanded [the thrifts'] lending authority and reduced supervision, which invited fraud.[6] These changes were intended to allow S&Ls to "grow" out of their problems...Other changes in thrift oversight included authorizing the use of more lenient accounting rules to report their financial condition, and the elimination of restrictions on the minimum numbers of S&L stockholders. Such policies, combined with an overall decline in regulatory oversight (known as forbearance), would later be cited as factors in the collapse of the thrift industry
>Regulation...should be looked at as a tool of absolute last resort when it comes to addressing market issues.
So, in summary, you believe, for example, that Glass-Steagall has no value and that banks should be able to place ultra-risky market bets on exotic, esoteric derivative products, using their customers' deposits? And, further, that those customers should not have any form of insurance or recourse?
It's stunning that someone could look back at 2008 and conclude that less regulation is the solution.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis#Backgro...