What happened to the savings-and-loan industry during the late 1980s?

During the late 1980s, the savings-and-loan (S&L) industry experienced a major crisis that ultimately led to its collapse. This crisis was primarily due to a combination of factors, including poor regulatory oversight, risky investments, and widespread financial mismanagement. As interest rates rose and the economy faced challenges, many S&Ls found themselves unable to compete with better-managed financial institutions and unable to recover their investments.

The fallout from this collapse was severe, contributing significantly to a recession in the early 1990s. The federal government had to step in to manage and resolve the crisis, which involved the closure of numerous S&L institutions and substantial taxpayer costs in bailouts for the affected entities. The savings-and-loan crisis remains a significant event in U.S. economic history, illustrating the consequences of inadequate regulation and the importance of oversight in the financial sector.