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Hi friend,

Wow!  I hope you got to see some or all of the conference we put on for the 15th Anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The all-star lineup was amazing and provided thought-provoking commentary and insights into the 2008 crash, the Dodd-Frank reform law, the 2023 banking crisis, the ongoing too-big-to-fail and too-big-to-jail issues, consumer and investor protections, and the continuing threats to Main Street Americans and our entire economy.

You can find the full video of our conference here and videos of individual panels here.

Too many forget, but the 2008 financial crisis caused the worse economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  It put more than 25 million Americans out of work, resulted in 16 million foreclosure filings, and caused more than 40% of all homes to plummet in value so much that their mortgages were higher than they could sell their homes for.  The savings, educations, and retirements of tens of millions of Americans evaporated, along with dreams and too often hope.  At the same time as Main Street suffered grievously, Wall Street (which caused the crash and that suffering) got bailed out by taxpayers and then paid themselves $20 billion in bonuses in January 2010.

This is why we took the time to mark this tragic anniversary. Only by remembering and understanding the crisis—and our country’s response—can we enact reforms that will prevent the next crisis and properly protect Main Street. That’s why, in addition to finding the speakers and panelists on our website, you can also find links to key materials and books about the crash and related issues as well as transcripts of the different sections of the conference.

Importantly, this isn’t distant history or irrelevant to today.  As the 2023 banking crisis showed, our financial system is still way too fragile and financial reform simply has not gone far enough to protect the American people.  Unfortunately, the money and power of the financial industry is still fighting reform to protect their profits and bonuses at the expense of hardworking Main Street Americans. That’s why Better Markets put on the conference—to give unconflicted and unbiased experts an opportunity to highlight these key issues—and will continue to stand up to Wall Street and fight for a financial system that supports the real economy that works for all Americans.

Best,
Dennis

Dennis Kelleher
Co-Founder, President & CEO, Better Markets

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