Counterpoint: A 21st Century Glass Steagall Act Is Needed

Counterpoint: A 21st Century Glass Steagall Act Is Needed

Editor’s Note: For an alternative viewpoint, see: Point: Why We Shouldn’t Bring Back Glass-Steagall

The Glass Steagall Act is the Depression-era law that gave financial companies a choice: you could be a plain old bank and enjoy the benefits of deposit insurance, or you could be an investment bank and trade in risky securities. But you couldn’t be both — you couldn’t play the casino with federally guaranteed funds.

There’s been a lot of talk about Glass Steagall lately. In fact, the subject has probably drawn more scrutiny on the 2016 campaign trail than it got from most of the Republican and Democratic lawmakers who voted for the law’s repeal in 1999. Nevertheless,...