Both were "crisis" type events that led to big stock market declines and substantial economic turmoil, but 2008 was far more traumatic. As someone who was fairly immersed in the mechanics of banking and endogenous money, I was extremely worried about a debt deflation style event that was occurring due to the housing market collapse. Today, there has been virtually no change: It's also worth noting that the regulations that were put in place following the crisis have led to much higher capital ratios.