From the bank failures of the 1930s to the S&L crisis of the 1980s and beyond
9/18/2000
Formed amid the banking crisis of the Great Depression, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures bank deposits and maintains the stability of—and public confidence in—the U.S. financial system. This section of the FDIC Web site infuses life into a very dry historical subject with well-illustrated, highly informative looks at everything from the bank failures of the 1930s to the S&L crisis of the 1980s and beyond. There are also summary statistical charts illustrating trends and patterns based on balance sheets, assets, and other data compiled over time for FDIC-insured banks. "[T]here is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold," said President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, "and that is the confidence of the people." This worthwhile effort by the FDIC illuminates the ups and downs of the institutions that inspired—or failed to inspire—that confidence.