Elizabeth Warren Discusses The 21st Century Glass Steagall Act

In remarks to Americans for Financial Reform and the Roosevelt Institute on Tuesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren said that the problem of banks considered "too big to fail" has only gotten worse since the 2008 financial crisis, and discussed the actions Congress needs to take to end "Too Big to Fail" and help prevent future financial crises:

"Today, the four biggest banks are 30 percent larger than they were five years ago. And the five largest banks now hold more than half of the total banking assets in the country," Warren said. "Who would have thought five years ago, after we witnessed firsthand the dangers of an overly concentrated financial system, that the 'too big to fail' problem would only have gotten worse?"

"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while working Americans continue to struggle," said Senator Warren in her speech today. "And we should not accept a regulatory system that is so besieged by lobbyists for the big banks that it takes years to deliver rules and then the rules that are delivered are often watered-down and ineffective.

"What we need is a system that puts an end to the boom and bust cycle. A system that recognizes we don't grow this country from the financial sector; we grow this country from the middle class."

Senator Warren has joined Senators John McCain, Maria Cantwell, and Angus King to offer up one potential way to address the Too Big to Fail problem -- the 21st Century Glass Steagall Act.

Warren said that the lobbyists from Wall Street said the sky would fall if they cannot use deposits in checking accounts to perform their high risk activities. She said they also said that in the 1930s. “They were wrong then and they are wrong now. The Glass Steagall act will restore the stability of the financial system that began to disappear in the 1980s and 1990s”, she said.

The full text of Senator Warren's remarks as prepared for delivery is available here.

H/T Egberto Willies