In the 1800's Presidents Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson were elected in large part because they understood the banking system and did their utmost to keep them away from the Government. The cycle that people understood too well back then was that banks would relax lending standards, inflate the money supply and then tighten lending standards and contract the money supply. Inflation, deflation, inflation, deflation... A well run bank profited no matter what the economy was doing, in the good times they collect interest and in the bad times they collect the titles to peoples property.
Don't get sucked in by low interest rates... it's still a mountain of debt and interest rates are on the way up... rates won't have to go far before the US govt needs to either default or inflict a severe opression on the American people (or perhaps a bit of each).
