The financial crash would be impossible if Glass-Steagall was never removed. Bob Rubin was the force behind removal of that law during Clinton. That law prevented banks from gambling with depositor’s money. When the gamble failed, tax payers were asked to bail them out.
George W Bush is entirely responsible for allowing bailout of too big to fail Wall Street banks. I will never understand why the Secretary of Treasury and chairman of federal reserve were from Goldman Sachs during Bush-43. Talk about fox guarding the chicken coop!
Dubya also chose to make Fannie and Freddie the responsibility of the American taxpayer.
They were both listed corporations on the stock exchange despite their government origins, and there was no legal requirement for taxpayers to backstop their investors.
They could have been allowed to enter bankruptcy. Instead their investors were spared personal loss by sticking taxpayers with the bill.