31 March 1980: Congress starts freeing interest rates

President Jimmy Carter signed the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, which began phasing out caps on the interest rates banks could pay savers. With inflation in double digits, savers had been fleeing to money market funds. The law helped modernize banking but also contributed to the troubles of savings and loan institutions, many of which later failed. Freedom has costs as well as benefits.

The lesson: When regulations change, the winners and losers can be very different from what anyone expected.