David Rand is a Young Voices contributor, philosopher, podcast host at Human [Re]Action, and a media and politic

Bank Crises and the Interventionist Spiral

Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank fell like dominos in March–April 2023. The United States Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) intervened in an unprecedented way to stall the domino effect. They waived the FDIC’s $250,000 cap on insured deposits at the failed banks, and the Fed instituted the Bank Term Funding Program to bail out any and all banks that run into trouble meeting depositors’ redemption demands.

The Fed Claims the Banking System is “Sound and Resilient.” The Banks’ Balance Sheets Say Otherwise

The wordsmiths at the Federal Reserve wisely omitted the line about a “sound and resilient” banking system in its statement on January 31. That same day shares of New York Community Bank plunged when the bank announced a loss of thirty-six cents per share when analysts expected earnings of twenty-seven cents a share for the fourth quarter.

A Michigan Jury Destroys 200 Years of Supreme Court Precedence. Progressives Celebrate

Progressives are celebrating yesterday’s Michigan verdict in which an Oakland County jury effectively overturned a couple of U.S. Supreme Court rulings from the early 1800s in order to enable prosecutors to convict people of crimes even though they did not break statutory law. According to the New York Times: