Commentary
The banking crisis, which became visible to most Americans only with the sudden and unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) two weeks ago, has not abated. There are reasons to believe it will become worse. So, what should one do to get out of harm’s way? Is it possible to find shelter in the financial storm?
The past few weeks have seen the collapse of not only Silicon Valley Bank but also of Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank, as well as the emergency rescue of First Republic Bank by a consortium of 11 of the “too big to fail” banks, which collectively placed $30 billion of deposits with First Republic after some $70 billion of customer deposits fled from the bank in just a few days. Collectively, these troubled banks held more than $500 billion in assets before their demise, and two of them (SVB and First Republic) were among the top 20 largest banks in the United States. This is serious….