The 2008 financial crash looms over this race for the White House, but the Great Recession’s causes have received little play. That certainly goes for 1999’s repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, legislation meant to keep commercial and investment banking separate. Many political progressives (and some conservatives, too) have pointed to this repeal, led by Bill Clinton and encouraged by Wall Street, as a major factor in the 2008 crash, though its direct impact is up for debate.
Hillary Clinton’s coziness with Wall Street and her refusal to pledge to reinstate Glass-Steagall if elected (as seen above), as Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have promised, has frustrated some factions in her party.