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by jonathankoren
1153 days ago
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No. Because the people that participated got their money out leaving the people that didn’t participate with nothing in their accounts. This happens because of fractional reserve banking. Think about it. Assume we both have an account with $1 dollar in it, and the bank only has $1 on hand. Now I create a run where I take my dollar out, but you don’t participate. I have my dollar, and now you have nothing because the bank failed. How are we the same? |
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Well, that's not the truth either. The bank is holding onto 30Y mortgages / 30Y Treasuries that will be worth $2 in the year 2050, but is only worth $1.4 (fair market value) right now.
This loan was good 2 years ago (ie: its fair-market value was $2) in the year 2021. But the Fed rate-hikes have caused the loan's value to collapse, and so here we are.
You withdraw $1, the bank doesn't want to sell the bonds because it'd lock in the loss. The Fed provides a loan at the full principle of the bond (so the Fed now backstops the missing money). The Fed is now acting as the bank of last resort, providing $2 of true dollars to backstop the $1.4 (fair market value) of the bond, which will truly become $2 by the year 2050. The Fed will exist that long so everything should be kosher, in theory.
Or so goes the story one month ago. Why didn't this work? Why is FRC still collapsing despite these loans from the Fed?
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Believe it or not, life is a bit more complicated than just "fractional reserve banking". You're missing a huge part of the story if that's all your mind is open to. I'm not claiming to have all the answers, but I think it would behoove you to at least try to understand the current situation with a bit more nuance.