Monday, March 13: Everybody’s Libertarian Until the Bank Closes
All of a sudden, a little government bail out doesn't sound so bad
The Fed announced yesterday that all customers of both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the two big banks that shut down this weekend, would have access to their money today. The US Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the government would back SVB deposits beyond the federally insured ceiling of $250,000.
Officials claimed that they would not use taxpayer money to repay the companies, instead the money will come from a mix of the two banks’ assets and from a broader insurance program financed by other banks. Don’t get it twisted though, this move isn’t out of benevolence, it’s out of sheer desperation that the financial problems won’t spiral into a full-blown meltdown.
Interesting how when a big bank fails it’s crucial we set aside our differences to save it because of how we're all connected in this beautiful interdependent web that is *~The Economy~*. Somehow this same logic and impulse is never brought to bear on, say, bailing out unhoused people living on the streets, or forgiving student loans.
Of course, nobody’s asking “How will we pay for it”. The government simply stepped in, made some guarantees, and overnight the problems go away. “How will we pay for it” only applies when it’s for the benefit of everyday people. The rich, the military and of course the police never get those kinds of questions. At the end of the day, only the public good is questionable.
Side Items
Doing the Lord’s Work: A Chicago-area man has filed a class-action lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings, saying the restaurant chain is charging too much for its boneless wings, which are basically just nuggets and not made from the actual wing of a chicken. Part of the lawsuit reads, "This clear-cut case of false advertising should not be permitted, as consumers should be able to rely on the plain meaning of a product’s name and receive what they are promised." Hard to disagree with that logic
March Sadness: In a surprise move, the NCAA cancelled the remainder of the college basketball season on account of a lack of interest. Just kidding. In reality the tournament will proceed as normal, but it’ll take place without the participation of the top-ranked preseason team, the Tar Heels of UNC. Sad times in Chapel Hill
What NOT to read: David Frum, the scumbag who wrote the famous “Axis of Evil” speech that helped jumpstart the war in Iraq, has some thoughts on the 20th anniversary of the start of the war. Somehow Frum has avoided any reasonable prosecution; a reasonable society would’ve locked this man in a cage decades ago. His garbled collection of words includes the statement, “The United States went to war to build a democracy in Iraq,” which is what wealthy white men are telling themselves nowadays I guess