The 2008 Financial Crisis vs. The Great Depression

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What They Share

Both crises began with a burst asset bubble (stocks in 1929, housing/mortgages in 2008), both triggered severe banking-sector distress, and both led to sweeping new financial regulation afterward.

Where They Differ

The 2008 response drew directly on lessons from the 1930s: the FDIC prevented the kind of bank-run panic seen in the Depression, and the Fed under Bernanke acted as an aggressive lender of last resort rather than tightening. As a result, the 2008-2009 downturn — while severe, with unemployment near 10% — was far shorter than the Depression's decade-long stagnation.