Topics: Economics
Public Release Date: October 16, 2013
To prevent the collapse of the global financial system in 2008, the Treasury committed 245 billion taxpayer dollars to stabilize America’s banking institutions. Today, banks that were once “too big to fail” have only grown bigger, with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs holding assets equal to over 50% of the U.S. economy. Were size and complexity at the root of the financial crisis, or do calls to break up the big banks ignore real benefits that only economies of scale can pass on to customers and investors?
ARGUING YES:
Richard Fisher: President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Simon Johnson: Former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund
ARGUING NO:
Douglas Elliott: Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution
Paul Saltzman: President of The Clearing House Association
MODERATOR-IN-CHIEF:
John Donvan: Emmy award-winning journalist