The Glass-Steagall regulatory provisions that were changed, and signed by President Clinton, was the Gramm-Leach-Bailey (all Republicans). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm-Leach-Bliley_Act To blame it all on Reagan is an over-reach of reasoning. Also, Obama did not inherit 21 % interest rates and 13% inflation with no job growth. Reagan also inherited a Middle East Crisis (the Iranian Islamic revolt and the hostage crisis) and a declining economy. The term "worst recession since the Great Depression" is "sound byte" jargon and an over-reach as well. Reagan also had created 7 million jobs, without corresponding declines in the structural labor force, by the end of his third year of the Presidency. There are business cycles, and almost every president has one; even Bill Clinton had a recession by the year 2000; then we had 9-11.