The Miracle of Glass-Steagall

Joe Nocera on the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act (h/t Mark Thoma):

From my vantage point here in 2011, Glass-Steagall seems miraculous. It was amazingly radical, not just for its time, but for any time; it didn’t so much reform banking as upend it. Most notably, it ordered banks to get out of the securities business. As Sisson complained: “The effect of the proposed banking reform is to renounce investment banking rather than regulate it.” Because investment banking was then the chief activity of the big banks, this was a very big deal.
Glass-Steagall also created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured customer deposits for the first time, and outlawed branch banking by national banks, among other things. It is impossible to imagine anything like it passing today; although the modern reform bill, Dodd-Frank, surely does some good, it’s not even comparable.

Back in the Depression, politicians may have had a lot of issues, but caving to the banks wasn't one of them.  Too bad today all the major politicians, including Obama, but especially Republicans, are bought and paid for by the finance industry.  The banking sector is just as corrupt now as it was then, but politicians don't even feel the need to look like they are doing anything to reel them in.  It is just sad.