One reason our current financial crisis is so large is because in 2004 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allowed the five biggest investment banks to step up their fractional reserve from about 10 to as high as 40. In other words, if you put $100 in the bank, the biggest banks could lend out $4,000, and then the hundreds of banks that borrowed that money could lend out ten times that $4,000. All that money had to be placed somewhere, and soon mortgage brokers were looking for anyone who could sign their name. The subprime mess expanded and then exploded—bringing down the entire world economy.
— Robert Kiyosaki; Rich Dad's Conspiracy of The Rich
