A Brief History of the Federal Reserve Bank

Trouble Persists
Despite the best intentions of the Federal Reserve Act, speculation on Wall Street continued apace, leading to a spectacular crash in October of 1929. Scholars have suggested that the massive financial crisis that ensued was made worse by the Fed's unwillingness to inject more money into the economy. In part because of this, nearly 10,000 banks failed between 1930 to 1933. In response to the crisis, Congress passed the Banking Act of 1933, also known as the Glass-Steagall Act, which called for the separation of commercial and investment banking; required the use of government securities as collateral for Federal Reserve notes; and established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

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