Question: The banking sector was deregulated in 1982. Before then, the US economy had eight recessions in the post-WWII period, an average of one recession every 4½ years. Since then, there have been only two recessions in over 20 years. Is it just a coincidence that the frequency and severity of recessions declined after banking deregulation and the Fed could no longer control growth in the money supply, or are there some direct linkages between deregulation and fewer recessions? If so, what are they?