Anatomy of the Bank Run

An interesting article written in September 1985 with very current implications. Knowing the thoroughness of this website, it has probably been posted before:


www.lewrockwell.com...

What, then, is the magic potion of the federal government? Why does everyone trust the FDIC and FSLIC even though their reserve ratios are lower than private agencies, and though they too have only a very small fraction of total insured deposits in cash to stem any bank run? The answer is really quite simple: because everyone realizes, and realizes correctly, that only the federal government – and not the states or private firms – can print legal tender dollars. Everyone knows that, in case of a bank run, the U.S. Treasury would simply order the Fed to print enough cash to bail out any depositors who want it. The Fed has the unlimited power to print dollars, and it is this unlimited power to inflate that stands behind the current fractional reserve banking system.

reply to post by atlscribe

I guess people feel in the opposite direction.




That way ------------->


But I tell you, all that banks-in-trouble talk could scare the daylight out of the uninformed.