The Byzantine Methods Of The Federal Government
Editorial by Boyd Evan White
What is the exact problem in the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank?
- Is the problem the deregulation of the Glass-Steagall Act allowing commerce banks to engage in investing?
- Is the problem the irresponsible purchasing of assets like bonds whose value is affected by the changing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve?
- Is the problem banking standards like Basel III are too liberal to a point of sheer weakness?
- Is the problem these banks passed Audits as little as two months before their failure?
- Is the problem outright criminal plunder by the Management of these banks?
What are the consequences of the failures?
- The FDIC stepped in and put the banks into Receivership and gave protection for accounts up to $250,000.
- Some accounts might lose money over the $250,000 FDIC protection.
- There is the out-right corruption exposed as bonuses were paid in the last days before those banks went into Receivership and the selling of stock by past and present upper management. More than likely there will not be significant criminal charges.
- Some businesses which provide valuable products or services might not be able to continue.
There is a ready mitigating factor to the danger of Fractional Reserve Banking and that is collateralized loans. For every loan, if collateral of say 120% of the loan’s value was presented, then, the loan would not be such a burden upon the reserve. The value of the collateral would offset the fraction of the reserve being used as a loan pool. This is a simple value-based thing to understand. So, if an Investment Bank was buying bonds the presumption is they would be an asset; the ownership of the bond would be collateral against the cost paid to purchase them.
Obviously, what these failed banks bought turned into liabilities; business destroying liabilities.
Well, now the government will be reinforced in the idea they are needed more than ever; the effects of these two banks failure will be absorbed by the Byzantine avenues within the Federal Government to make problems “go away.”
That being said, all of a sudden, the rats have started scurrying out of the dark places. The Byzantine avenues of the Federal Government might be filled up soon.
The Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America sent a letter to regulators arguing that a temporary suspension of the FDIC’s deposit insurance limit is necessary to ensure that smaller banks can navigate the current banking crisis, Bloomberg reported.
Interestingly, the MBCA does not have any members in Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming nor New Mexico, ( https://midsizebanks.com/member-banks/ ).
All in all, a person’s value system should realize the difference between real money and fiat debt money which is more like an expendable fuel used to drive an economy. The True Money Supply in 1970 was around $1 Trillion; in 2023 the “quality” of what we use as money is different and is around $5.3 trillion.
The discrepancy between (M1 + M2) which comes out to $5.3 trillion and the National Debt of $31.6 is something that has to raise some eyebrows. How can anyone not conclude our monetary system is corrupt to the core?
Bear in mind what the “money” we are talking about is based upon, 18 U.S. Code Section 8 – “Obligation or other security of the United States defined: “The term ‘obligation or other security of the United States’ includes all bonds,…., Federal Reserve notes,….”
These Federal Reserve Notes are an obligation, a liability. If we truly valued freedom we would not be obliged to the extent we are.
U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 4: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, …, shall not be questioned.”
The “Law of the Land” says we are not supposed to question the validity of the public debt. Being told to not ask questions sounds awfully authoritarian. The way things are going there are going to be LOTS of questions in the future.
References:
Midsize banks plead for unlimited FDIC backstop for two years
https://www.axios.com/2023/03/19/svb-fdic-signature-bank-midsize-banks
