Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report

The ten-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission created by President Barack Obama to investigate into the cause of 2008 financial meltdown and recommend measures to prevent it in future came up short on formulating a unified response. Six Democratic members issued a majority report, 576-page The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, that blames lack of regulatory oversight and Wall Street irresponsibility for the meltdown. The report was issued on January 25, 2011, and the report was available at bookstores by January 27. On January 26, three Republican members issued a dissenting report that criticized broad economic forces--instead of Wall Street irresponsibility and lack of regulatory oversight as pinpointed by the main report--such as glut in Asian savings that had fueled in easy mortgage-backed securities as primary culprit. A second dissent focused on government policy on loose standard of homeownership as the causing factor.