Episode Details

We have all seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy plays the President of a small savings and loan bank and in one of the pivotal scenes of the movie he prevents a bank run by talking to the customers and explaining how the bank works. Bank runs have been prevalent in the U.S. since the founding of the country as noted in various panics throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. But will a bank run today be like the bank runs we have experienced in the past? The answer, probably not. In a very weird way, a bank run today could be a quiet unsettling type of experience. The bank branch is closed, the ATM is empty, the bank is limiting withdrawals, and everyone is wondering what the Fed is going to do. No Jimmy Stewart to explain what is happening and calm customers down. Are banks ready for the speed and velocity at which a bank run can occur today? Are customers prepared for the way in which they could potentially be locked out of their money?  This episode reviewed an article from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “What would a bank run look like today?”