Less than ten years ago, at a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where then-President Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (also know as the Financial Services Modernization Act), Phil Gramm had this to say:

"The world changes,  and Congress and the laws have to change with it.

"Abraham Lincoln used to like to use the analogy that old and outmoded laws need to be changed because it made about as much sense to continue to impose them on people as it did to ask a man to wear the same clothes he did when he was a child.

"In the 1930s, at the trough of the Depression, when Glass-Steagall became law, it was believed that government was the answer.  It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

"We are here today to repeal Glass-Steagall because we have learned that government is not the answer.  We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers.  We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill.  I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."    Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs - November 12, 1999

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Some economists have criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.

Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms,  arguing that  "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation.

Under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly."

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Listen to Michael Greenberger, a former director at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, explain in clear and understandable language, how and why this all happened.  

Click here for the September 2008 Podcast "Was 'Adult Supervision' Needed On Wall Street?" and be sure to listen to the earlier Podcast from April 2008 (available on the same page) entitled "Our Confusing Economy, Explained"

In our opinion, both of these combined, provide an excellent explanation of the current financial mess.

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In the meantime, you can always communicate to us about anything that you have to say; we welcome your emails, phone calls and/or your letters...  in fact we encourage everyone to speak up!

Times are currently difficult for many, if not worrisome, and we just may have an answer or two to your exact concern.