June 13
Friday the Thirteenth. The news reports say one of the big Chicago banks failed today—the largest bank failure in American history. The analysts worry that other big banks, who won’t be able to collect on their outstanding loans to this one, may fail, too. The FDIC will step in, of course, and pay back the depositors. The Treasury will no doubt have to print more money to make good, devaluing an already inflated currency. This does not bode well.
I haven't paid much attention to the credit crisis, bevcause it hasn't affected me. I don't have a mortgage, adjustable or otherwise. I know my local bank loans its money conservatively, doesn’t lend to other banks, and keeps a reserve higher than the regulators require. Still, I wonder how safe my money is there. Will I wake up one day to find that my assets have been frozen and all the checks I wrote are about to bounce? An FDIC reimbursement some months down the road wouldn’t do much to ease the immediate pain.
We already keep a few hundred bucks in cash around the house for emergencies. But just in case, I stop at the bank and draw out two thousand dollars more: a hundred crisp twenty dollar bills. They don’t buy as much as they did a year ago, but for now, dollars are still the currency of the land. I did stop at a pawn shop today while I was in St. George to see about buying gold. I had to wait in line, and when I got to the counter, they’d sold all the gold they had: jewelry, coins, everything, and at prices far higher than I’d have been willing to pay. Apparently I’m not the only one taking precautions.
We already keep a few hundred bucks in cash around the house for emergencies. But just in case, I stop at the bank and draw out two thousand dollars more: a hundred crisp twenty dollar bills. They don’t buy as much as they did a year ago, but for now, dollars are still the currency of the land. I did stop at a pawn shop today while I was in St. George to see about buying gold. I had to wait in line, and when I got to the counter, they’d sold all the gold they had: jewelry, coins, everything, and at prices far higher than I’d have been willing to pay. Apparently I’m not the only one taking precautions.
Comments