An investigation spearheaded by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has revealed that questionable practices and regulatory failures led directly to the worst U.S. financial crisis in decades.
The findings of the two-year long investigation were included in a lengthily report released by the two Senators on Wednesday. Specifically, it found that Wall Street firms themselves caused the 2008 financial collapse by engaging in “massive conflicts of interest.” The collapse forced the government to spend hundreds of billions on bailouts, and triggered a prolonged recession which the nation has only recently begun to climb out of.
In a statement, Coburn said that blame lies with not only the financial sector, but also with federal regulators who failed to crack down hard enough on the firms involved.
“The free market has helped make America great, but it only functions when people deal with each other honestly and transparently. At the heart of the financial crisis were unresolved, and often undisclosed, conflicts of interest,” said Coburn. “Blame for this mess lies everywhere from federal regulators who cast a blind eye, Wall Street bankers who let greed run wild, and members of Congress who failed to provide oversight.”
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