Deregulation is now a word my teenage sons understand. They'veheard it enough from the news and my mouth. What they don'tunderstand is how a washing machine works. But that's another issuefor another time.

There's an excitement around the financial world when it comesto rolling back regulations. Bank and credit union leaders believethe Trump administration is going to be a friend to them in thatregard. And that could be the case.

Underneath that excitement though, is a worry about lending andthe potentially dangerous path that lies ahead. This is due to thedouble-edged sword of attempting to pull back regulations and cuttaxes. Can both happen? Again, maybe. Maybe not.

A recent article in The New York Times reported thatfinancial executives are deeply concerned “about taking on too muchdebt.” This is due to a number of factors including the failedefforts of getting much done in the current political environment,as well as the Federal Reserve raising rates and, let's not forget,the possibility of the Glass-Steagall Act coming back into play.Oh, and the Prepaid Card Rule, according to reports, has a 90%chance of being shot down by Congress.

Optimism had been high in the financial world after Trump wassworn in. The stock market made some significant gainspost-inauguration. But after the failure to repeal and replace theAffordable Health Care Act, as well as a few other missteps by thenew administration, things are beginning to flatten out a bit.

According to federal reports, there's a more somber atmospheretaking over the lending marketplace. “Data from the Federal Reserveshowed that lending in February was flat, while lending tomanufacturers and energy companies was in decline, after manymonths of growth,” according to The New York Times. Justso you don't think that we're this left-leaning liberal rag, FoxNews reported the same thing, stating earlier this month that “BigU.S. banks revealed more evidence of a slowdown in loan growth intheir earnings reports.”

CU Times did report in March that “credit union loansgrew in January at their fastest rate in 17 years.” But thosenumbers, from CUNA Mutual Group's monthly economic update, appearto rely mostly on small business loans and auto loans, which“showed unusual strength.”

While many big banks are reporting more record profits this yearalready, loan growth has started to slow down across thenon-cooperative financial space. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,Citigroup Inc. and others are keeping an eye on it.

With the Federal Reserve indicating that we will see two orthree more rate hikes this year, and the US Treasury yield hasbasically flat-lined, this gives us some strong suggestions that wecould be in a recession by the end of the year if there isn't somekind of correction in the market.

In 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act was born out of the ashes of theGreat Depression to help decrease the likelihood of futurefinancial crises. In 1999, it was repealed. Less than 10 yearslater, we fell into the Great Recession (I enjoy Cliff-Note historylessons). And now there's a shiny, new version of theGlass-Steagall Act that's poked its head out of a bipartisan groupin Washington. I call it the Glass-Steven-Seagal Act, because thebig banks and big bank executives aren't fans and they're a littlescared – just like normal people are about Steven Segal and hismovies.

The new iteration of this bill would separate traditional banksthat have savings and checking accounts insured by the FDIC or NCUAfrom “riskier financial institutions that offer services such asinvestment banking, insurance, hedge fund and private equityactivities.” And oddly, President Trump appears to be for buildingthis wall between commercial and investment banking. Lawmakersunderstand that the culture of risky banking behavior continuestoday.

Those big bank executives are warning legislative officials thatlending programs could be pulled back even more if Glass-Steagallcomes back.

As of now, credit union leaders are quiet on this front. Andfrom conversations I've had with some executives, they are hopeful(as they tend to be) that this move could help in thatalways-ongoing effort to level the lending playing field betweenbanks and credit unions to a place that “would return bankingback-to-basics.”

To me, our financial environment feels a lot like things did in2008 just before the economy fell off in a terrifying way. Also, itfeels a little more hopeful because we are witnessing such anengaged society, industry and membership base.

My advice? Don't take a wait-and-see approach with thispolitical environment. As banking and community banking industryleaders backed off of their promise to fight credit unions on thetired argument to repeal the tax-exempt status, credit unionleaders should reach out to the banking industry to find somecommon ground to fight together. Because both sides want to grow inall areas of lending, the consumer base, products and services. Butwith so much uncertainty at every turn, this could turn out to be awatershed moment for everyone. Or another financial disaster.

Oh, and keep an eye on the possibility of a government shut-downat the end of April.

And to my sons: Separate colors, put clothes in washing machine,add detergent and softener, turn on.

If only the financial world were that simple.

Michael Ogden is executive editor for CU Times. He can bereached at [email protected].