Last week after the wake of all the fireworks and celebrating I stumbled across several writings about the Glass-Seagall Act of 1933. I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about so I started reading. It is widely known throughout my family that numbers and I don’t get along so when I start reading about financial stresses and banking, my eyes became very tired. Nevertheless, with the financial crisis we are experiencing, I really wanted to know what we can do.

Apparently some members of the Southwest Alabama Labor Council have written letters to each of the members of Congress in our state asking for their support in reinstating this Glass-Steagall Act. What is the Glass-Steagall Act? It was a law that was established back in 1933 to incorporate the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States which was designed to control investment speculation. Meaning: the bank we use to save our money cannot use that money to play on Wall Street.

This same act was repealed on Nov. 12, 1999 by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which means that the separation that existed between Wall Street Investment banks and our own savings and depository banks was removed which encouraged banks to take on unstable risks in the form of bad loans. From reading many news sources, this repeal led to what is now known as the Financial Crisis of 2007-2010.  We are still reeling from this disaster so reinstating this Act would be considered a “crucial and common sense regulation of financial markets” as it is stated in the Southwest Alabama Labor Council letter to Congress. We must reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act.

Reading other commentaries of this situation seems to lead to the fact that we are in grave danger of total financial collapse if this Glass-Steagall Act is not returned to law. It sounds unbelievable, but according to reports by Lyndon LaRouche, (a political activist) it is most important that this Act be reinstated this week. He says: “The resulting wave of a wild-eyed stampede of accelerating inflation, since the beginning of 2001, has been the result of the termination of Glass-Steagall. The wild-eyed bubble of skyrocketing real-estate mortgage speculation, and related Wall Street forms of John Law-like hyperinflation in all speculative markets of the trans-Atlantic region of the world, have been the continuing consequences.”

It is understandable, from a consumer point of view, why this Glass-Steagall Act is so important. I don’t want my bank investing my money in shaky investments. No one is excluded in careful spending and stable saving. As it’s been stated in many arguments in reinstating this Act: “Depository institutions possess enormous financial power, by virtue of their control of other people’s money; its extent must be limited to ensure soundness and competition in the market for funds, whether loans or investments.”

The message is clear. We need to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 to return the stability of our financial markets and institutions. We cannot continue the financial instability without some repercussions in our own financial lives. I hope Congress will understand this.

Loxley resident Valerie J. Steimle is now the author of four books. Her latest, “Dogs, Blogs and Hobbits: Writings from a Widow’s Perspective” is available on Amazon.com. Contact her at valeriesteimle@yahoo.com, visit her website at www.stregthenyourhome.com or check out her blog at www.valeriesteimle.blogspot.com.