One of the most notable features of the economic landscape of the 1980s has been the erosion of the American financial system. Between 1980 and 1984 alone, more than 510 saving and loans and almost 190 commercial banks failed across the country. By 1984, the FDIC’s problem bank list included 848 banks, three times the number named in 1979 and almost five times the number in 1974. The tend has not abated: 1988 saw 200 banks and 220 savings and loans in the United States closed and/or liquidated. The frequency and size of these failures aer matched only by those of the Great Depression.
Please note The Heartland Institute’s phone number and address have changed since this document was created. The correct contact information is The Heartland Institute, 19 South LaSalle Street #903, Chicago, IL 60603; phone 312/377-4000; fax 312/377-5000; email [email protected].
