Credit Control Quotes
The last sentence echoes a quotation of Napoleon. See {630664} .
By the middle of the 20th century, the banks were no longer allowed to control the railroads and seemed less powerful, but by the beginning of the 21st century, the few largest banks, without the railroads or any other industrial holdings, were so big that the controlled credit, fraudulently manipulated rates and mortgage foreclosures and after losing huge amounts speculating in 2008, the government had to bail them out with taxpayer money while the bank executives who caused the failures tool million dollar bonuses. Never were banks so powerful in any country that they could have the government pay billions of dollars for their losses and mistakes.
The first of these safeguards was abandoned during the George W. Bush administration and the economic meltdown of 2008 resulted. The Obama administration in 2010 restored some regulation of banks and investment banks.