The following is the opinion of The Washington Spectator-a liberal source I would guess. They report "...most economists agree that the current crisis would not have occurred but for the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act". This law "...dismantled the restrictions imposed on banks by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (for those teaching the New Deal you might want to note this. I never really understood what it was all about so I only mentioned it briefly). This law was pushed by republican senator Phil Gramm of Florida and signed into law by democrat Bill Clinton (looks like both parties are to blame). The Gramm law "...eliminated the structural restraints that had prohibited commercial banks from the speculation that last year brought the country perilously close to a major depression".
(Source: "Talking Financial Reform to Death" by Lou Dubose of The Washington Spectator March 1, 2010).
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