The subsequent aggressive monetary and fiscal policies taken around the world to support the economy helped initiate progress in the adjustment of excessive inventories, starting around spring 2009. Since then, the global economy as a whole – despite some national and regional differences – stopped worsening and headed toward a moderate recovery.
The CRA reaffirmed the longstanding principle that financial institutions must serve "the convenience and needs," including credit needs, of the communities in which they are chartered. The obligation of financial institutions to serve their communities was seen as a quid pro quo for privileges such as the protection afforded by federal deposit insurance and access to the Federal Reserve's discount window (FFIEC, 1992).