What Is The Glass-Steagall Act?

Published October 14, 2015 at 1:33 PM EDT

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Sen. Carter Glass (D-Va.) on the left and Rep. Henry B. Steagall (D-Ala.) on the right. Glass and Steagall co-founded the Glass-Steagall Act passed in 1933 and repealed in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. (Photo of Sen. Glass from The Mystery Man/Wikimedia; Photo of Rep. Steagall from the U.S. House of Representatives; Collage by Adam sk/Wikimedia)

The candidates in last night’s Democratic presidential debate invoked the Glass-Steagall Act as they staked out their positions on regulating big banks. The Depression-era law was designed to separate commercial and investment banks, and it was repealed in 1999 under President Bill Clinton.

Since then, critics of Wall Street say repealing the law encouraged banks to make the risky financial moves that led to the 2008 economic crisis. CNN’s Maggie Lake discusses the Glass-Steagall Act and why it matters with Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson.

Guest

Maggie Lake, business reporter for CNN. She tweets @maggielake.