I hope you ' re kidding . Aghs is horrible on lich . <| sep |> use exogenous variation in banks ' incentives to conform to the standards of the Community Reinvestment Act CRA around regulatory exam dates to trace out the effect of the CRA on lending activity . Our empirical strategy compares lending behavior of banks undergoing CRA exams within a given census tract in a given month to the behavior of banks operating in the same census tractmonth that do not face these exams . We find that adherence to the act led to riskier lending by banks in the six quarters surrounding the CRA exams lending is elevated on average by about 5 percent every quarter and loans in these quarters default by about 15 percent more often . These patterns are accentuated in CRAeligible census tracts and are concentrated among large banks . The effects are strongest during the time period when the market for private securitization was booming . Clinton and his administration helped cause the crisis free from any external pressure .