US savings-and-loan crisis
1980s–1995.12.31
Interest-rate risk and troubled loans led to a savings-and-loan crisis followed by prolonged resolution.
A broader crisis-and-resolution educational interval than the candidate’s late-to-early range. Its end is the RTC’s closure, different from individual failure dates.
Conditions at the time
Higher interest rates and deposit outflows burdened institutions focused on long-term mortgages.
How events unfolded
Risky lending and distress accumulated amid deregulation and supervisory forbearance.
Stakeholders and impacts
Savings and loan associations, depositors, insurance institutions and taxpayers bore resolution costs.
Information available at the time
The 1989 legislative changes altered existing supervision, insurance and distressed-institution resolution arrangements.
Findings confirmed later
The RTC resolved remaining distressed institutions and closed at the end of 1995.
Alternative interpretations and limitations
Interest-rate shocks were not the only cause; also consider institution-specific asset choices and supervisory responses.
Interpretation using later sources
Authorities hoped deregulation and continued operation would help troubled institutions recover. Some instead pursued riskier lending. The RTC ultimately resolved 747 institutions and closed at the end of 1995. ASSETCASTING interpretation: Growing deposits or assets does not establish restored solvency. Separate expansion from recognized losses and resolution costs; the RTC's closure also does not date affected households' recovery.
Evidence coverage through 2013-11-22 · Sources checked 2026-10-14
Related events and periods1
- Inflation shocks and the shift to tightening
An event or period whose recorded start falls within this editorial interval. This does not establish that it caused or represents the characteristics of the era, nor guarantee that the entire period falls within the interval.
Historical events do not guarantee future recurrence or investment performance.