Usually I like discussing what’s happening with the police and what more we can do to help out our men and women in blue. But there seems to be quite a bit of injustice surrounding what the American banking system is doing for some clients in the wake of the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank. So, of course, it’s worth discussing.
As you’re probably well aware by now, the financial institution practically collapsed this month, leaving thousands of businesses and clients up in the air in terms of getting access to their money. It’s the worst financial institution collapse since the days of ’08, when Washington Mutual bit the dust.
Of course, the government has stepped in and vowed to make sure everyone gets their money, though it’s a question of how at this point.
However, for this piece, I thought I’d discuss a recent comment from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
In the middle of a Senate Financial Committee meeting this past week, Senator James Lankford (R., Oklahoma) addressed the matter to Yellen, asking, “Will my banks in Oklahoma pay a special assessment to be able to make Chinese investors whole in Silicon Valley Bank?”
It’s usually at this point that higher-ups play the denial game. Shockingly enough, however, Yellen didn’t. “Uninsured investors will be made whole in that bank and I suppose that could include foreign depositors, but I don’t believe there is any legal basis to discriminate among uninsured depositors,” she replied.
You’re kidding me. Here’s a financial system that seems to be more than happy to help businesses with ties to the CCP. Would it not be better and safer to focus on the U.S.A.-bred businesses that struggle to make ends meet as it is after COVID? It’s ridiculous.
Yellen added: “I can reassure the members of the committee that our banking system remains sound and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them. This week’s actions demonstrate our resolute commitment to ensure that depositors’ savings remain safe.”
She concluded with, “The government took decisive and forceful actions to strengthen confidence.”
Let’s start with the first part of her statement. “Our banking system remains sound” probably refers to the banks that are still standing. But I’m not sure about the “Americans can feel confident” part, especially since so many businesses and clients are struggling just to get their bank balance back to normal.
And then there’s the “government took decisive and forceful actions to strengthen confidence” line. But it doesn’t sound like that many people are confident in this system. There are still so many trying to figure out what happened to their funds, including Etsy sellers and other small businesses. I’m sure eventually it will catch up, but, again, without a timeline, it’s pretty hard to find that confidence.
Why isn’t the focus here on restoring American investments? Why are U.S. taxpayer dollars (already redistributed unjustly too often) being used to help companies that have ties to the CCP? Given the state of relations between the two countries right now and the infamy of the CCP, how does this make any sense?
