Various asset markets have experienced rather sharp fluctuations in prices in recent decades, some of which have threatened disruption in the United States and have contributed to sluggish growth elsewhere, as in Japan following the real estate boom and bust; we certainly cannot rule out the possibility of further sharp asset price movements as product prices and spending adjust.
It is notable that current law provides very little in the way of structural means to limit systemic risk and the too-big-to-fail problem. The statutory prohibition on interstate acquisitions that would result in a commercial bank and its affiliates holding more than 10 percent of insured deposits nationwide is the closest thing to such an instrument.