The 40-Year Robbing of Rural America SOURCE: In These Times--Since the 1980s, says Professor Marc Edelman, financial capital has developed imaginative new ways to seize assets from small towns and rural areas. INTERVIEW by Olivia Weeks

The repeal of the New Deal-era Glass-Steagall ban on investment banks offering everyday financial services spurred speculation and consolidation and led to the disappearance of many local savings banks that had lent to nearby businesses and kept wealth circulating in their communities.