The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

by Martin Gurri

Consider the following very partial roster of the economic institutions maintained by the Federal government at the time of the 2008 financial crisis: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (established in 1863), Federal Reserve System (1913), Securities and Exchange Commission (1934), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (1934), National Credit Union Administration (1934), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1936), Federal National Mortgage Association (1938), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (1939), Federal Loan Home Mortgage Corporation (1970), Bureau of Economic Analysis (1972), Bureau of Labor Analysis (1972), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (1990).38