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by nybble41 2286 days ago
The FDIC can get as much currency as they need from the Treasury to cover their obligations, so in that very technical sense they aren't likely to default. However, in the event this were ever actually tested they might as well have defaulted since the resulting inflation would be so high that currency would be worthless. Going from "can't get your money out of the bank" to "your money can't buy anything" isn't exactly an improvement.
1 comments

(I realize this is pretty old, but I just came back to look at this, sorry)

> However, in the event this were ever actually tested they might as well have defaulted since the resulting inflation would be so high that currency would be worthless. Going from "can't get your money out of the bank" to "your money can't buy anything" isn't exactly an improvement.

While I could see this being true, I don't see how pulling cash from my bank and storing it under a mattress helps this scenario at all. Inflation hurts every dollar equally, regardless of whether it's stored in my bank, under my mattress, or is sent to me from the FDIC.