Better Markets released an extensive Cost of the Crisis Report detailing how the 2008 financial crash and the economic catastrophe it caused will cost the United States more than $20 trillion. The Report was released the day before the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing the historic Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law, the most comprehensive financial reform since the Great Depression that’s working to reinstate the layers of protection between Main Street families and Wall Street’s riskiest activities. 

“The Report shows those human and economic costs, including historically high unemployment, underemployment, long-term unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness, underwater mortgages, bankrupt businesses large and small, lost savings, deferred or denied retirements, educations cut short, and more. Although there has been substantial economic recovery since the dark and terrifying days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, the Report also outlines the many Americans across the country who are still suffering from the impact of the crisis in lost jobs, homes, security, and so much more,” said Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets. 

“The Report also details how Wall Street’s reckless, high-risk, legal and illegal activities caused the crash and crisis. It demonstrates how important it is to fully implement and aggressively police the financial reform law, which is rebuilding the type of protections between Wall Street and Main Street that worked well for more than 70 years after the Great Depression. That’s what the Dodd-Frank law and financial reform are all about: protecting Americans’ jobs, homes, savings, retirements, and standard of living, as well as making sure that public funds are never again diverted from social priorities to bailing out reckless financial activities,” continued Mr. Kelleher.  

You can download the Cost of the Crisis Report here.