Possible.
I think maybe reagan and everyone else was too eager to repair the shattered economy. I know, hindsight is 20-20. We were all grateful for his efforts at the time. But he set a trend that grew more extreme in later administrations. I now believe the best way to handle the economy is TO KEEP OUR STUPID HANDS OFF IT. I don’t think a 4 year term is long enough for a president to really do anything constructive with the economy. It takes longer than that to realize the true effects of your tinkering.
It appears to me that the last 8 years, and maybe more, we went a little too far with some of the de-regulation...or at least applied the concept in a stupid way.
Garn-St Germain was a bill that deregulated the S&Ls and ended up opening the door to widespread fraud. It was one of a series of innovations that dismantled the Glass-Steagall act over a series of years and very likely is one of the roots of the current financial crisis.
“It appears to me that the last 8 years, and maybe more, we went a little too far with some of the de-regulation.....”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were directly managed and regulated by the US Congress.
The value of their stocks fell almost $130 billion.
By contrast, Enron lost $60 billion, most of that because federal regulators caused the panicked destruction of Enron's trading business in less than 24 hours.
Also of note, Detroit and central California have the highest home mortgage default rates and home price declines in the nation.
The reason:
Federal regulators, using the threat of discrimination lawsuits, essentially eliminated credit and income standards for mortgages for Blacks and Hispanics.
More than any other factor, government regulation caused the collapse of the home mortgage financial market.