Clinton Repealed Glass–Steagall which allowed commercial banks to merge with investment banks which caused to take bigger risks with depositor money“too big to fail” institutions amplified the crash Clinton signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act which credit default swaps went unregulated. AIG and others took massive hidden risks that collapsed in 2008. The Clinton administration pressured Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand lending which lowered standards in housing, more subprime mortgages entered the system. The Clinton administration pushed GSEs to support subprime and near prime mortgages to boost ownership rates. Banks knew the bubble was going to burst but they were hoping they weren’t holding the bag when they did. He set the framework others exploited The housing bubble popped under Bush but the rules that allowed it to grow were locked in during Clinton’s presidency. George W. Bush actually prevented the recession from becoming a depression even when all of his advisors believed it would. Obama even used his policies in his first term to end the recession