Friday, December 18, 2009, 10:13AM ET - U.S. Markets close in 5 hours and 47 minutes.

Top Economist: Americans Should Worry About Bank Deposits if Congress Doesn't Act

Posted Sep 15, 2008 12:58pm EDT by Aaron Task in Investing, Recession, Banking

Updated from 12:58 p.m. EDT 

With the "financial storm of the century" hitting financial institutions, many Americans are worried about the safety of their bank deposits. While the FDIC insures individual accounts up to $100,000, the reaction to IndyMac's failure this summer -- lines outside retail branches -- shows Americans have limited faith in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which guarantees individual accounts up to $100,000.

Update: "The banking system is safe and sound," Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson declared at a mid-afternoon press conference Monday, seeking to ameliorate such concerns.

"Nothing is more important than the stability and orderliness of our financial markets [and] regulators remain vigilant," Paulson continued. "We're working through a difficult period in our financial markets right now as we work of some of the past excesses, but the American people can remain confident in the soundness and resilience of our financial system." 

But Americans are justified to be worried, says Nouriel Roubini, of NYU's Stern School and RGE Monitor, who notes there is already a "slow-motion run on retail banks" occurring nationwide.

That "run" could accelerate as people realize the FDIC fund has about $50 billion to "insure" about $1 trillion in assets at the nation's financial institutions, says Roubini. "They're going to run out of money" unless Congress acts soon to recapitalize the FDIC.

In addition, the recent spike in number of banks on the FDIC's "troubled list" is only through June, meaning even that inflated number understates the problem.

The intent here isn't to add to people's anxieties, but Roubini is one of the few market watchers to correctly predict the severity of this ongoing credit crisis. If nothing else, he says people with accounts exceeding $100,000 in value should spread their money - and the risk - among different firms.

Go to Tech Ticker
1947 votes|Recommend this

2692 Comments

vincent
vincent - Monday September 15, 2008 01:12PM EDT

The destructive power of greed and delusion. And now the entire country gets smacked around for a couple of years. Good luck everyone.

Seth and Mike
Seth and Mike - Monday September 15, 2008 01:16PM EDT

more firms like BAC will have to be forced to bail out weak ones like MER. it was terrible for the shareholders of BAC to have this happen to them when BAC could have annouced the deal at the end of today with MER trading at $6 to $8 and saved themselves $25 Billion...

James
James - Monday September 15, 2008 01:16PM EDT

We can't afford to recapitalize the FDIC; we need to spend $10B/month in Iraq instead.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday September 15, 2008 01:16PM EDT

Our financial system has been based on nothing but paper for years. It is only a matter of time till the melt down

JARAA
JARAA - Monday September 15, 2008 01:21PM EDT

Not to mention interest rates are going DOWN, not up; whats the motivation to keep cash tied up in the tentacled system. It's all tied together. housing will not recover; less qualified buyers in a tighter lending environment, more dinged credit reports and far less speculaiton, ruinous inventory, ruinous appraisals keeping prices down with forclosures, the vicious cycle will continue for years. The banks also have the housing inventory as LIABILITES: they have to pay property axes, hoa fes, utility assessments, insurance, etc. I hope these clowns at the new american socialist banking institution bank of america know what the hell their doing; judging by their speculative risks in CFC and MER; they are "overexuberant" regarding a recovery.

fug
fug - Monday September 15, 2008 01:22PM EDT

Bunch of farking talking heads. They are compounding the problem.

Dunkin
Dunkin - Monday September 15, 2008 01:23PM EDT

Greed got the best of 'em. I just hope it doesn't trickle down too far.

roger
roger - Monday September 15, 2008 01:24PM EDT

Hey Fed's I need some cash! Bail me out......?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday September 15, 2008 01:24PM EDT

Bushisajerk1, Very insightfull comment. You are obviously a big shot in the financial world and have the solutions.

Leon
Leon - Monday September 15, 2008 01:24PM EDT

Guess who was the leader of the banking deregulation movement. He is a McCain adviser, his name rhymes with ram and he called us all whiners.

Ben Khelifa
Ben Khelifa - Monday September 15, 2008 01:25PM EDT

what has been lost by bear, lehman and merill must have been gained by somebody else. who? take a guess.

Steve
Steve - Monday September 15, 2008 01:26PM EDT

no bailouts. We shouldn't help deadbeats that gambled their money on the market and loss. why should us taxpayers that are well off have to support people that make stupid investments?

Tom
Tom - Monday September 15, 2008 01:26PM EDT

I don't get it, what to stop them (treasury) from printing more money when the time come. This does mean that your money in a mattress would be the same value as someone else's money in a FDIC insured account.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday September 15, 2008 01:26PM EDT

I don't get it, what to stop them (treasury) from printing more money when the time come. This does mean that your money in a mattress would be the same value as someone else's money in a FDIC insured account.

Shemaj
Shemaj - Monday September 15, 2008 01:27PM EDT

WTF am I supposed to do with my money? Put it under my mattress? What are these guys doing? Where did all the money go? These are supposed to be licensed and degreed professionals.

heaterman
heaterman - Monday September 15, 2008 01:29PM EDT

Before you blame Bush for this fiasco, do a little research and reading on something called the Glass-Steagall act. Look at what it was put into effect for and when, then notice who exactly repealed it. Hint, it wasn't a Republican president. One of the major backers of the act's repeal even kept the pen used to sign the repeal.

Grim
Grim - Monday September 15, 2008 01:30PM EDT

Can't wait to find another country to retire in! If my US dollar is even worth anything anymore.... The Republicans and the idiots that voted for them are acting like it couldn't have been helped... Thanks but stupid can't be fixed and is never admitted by the owners.

Mari
Mari - Monday September 15, 2008 01:31PM EDT

I hope that global panic doesn't make this problem an even bigger one. Naturally, we will panic if those in leadership positions fail us as they have for the past 8 years (Bush Administration). Perhaps, Bush will consider this as a possible recession - his failure to accept the obvious only continues to slope our economy downward.

ronald
ronald - Monday September 15, 2008 01:32PM EDT

Dollar is toast! Buy gold while it's cheap.

Gene G
Gene G - Monday September 15, 2008 01:32PM EDT

Anyone that still believes the FDIC will insure their deposits in a bank busting economic is truely whacked out...but, then again, that's their goal.

Yahoo! reserves the right to refuse, or remove any comment that does not comply with the Yahoo! Terms of Service. The submission of spam, hateful, or obscene messages may result in the termination of your Yahoo! ID.
About Tech Ticker - Send FeedbackDisclaimer. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright/IP Policy - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy - Help
Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Delay times are 15 mins for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges.

Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges. Real-Time continuous streaming quotes are available through our premium service. You may turn streaming quotes on or off. Fundamental company data provided by Capital IQ. Financials data provided by Edgar Online. Historical chart data and daily updates provided by Commodity Systems, Inc. (CSI). International historical chart data, daily updates, fund summary, fund performance, dividend data and Morningstar Index data provided by Morningstar, Inc. Analyst estimates data provided by Thomson Financial Network. All data provided by Thomson Financial Network is based solely upon research information provided by third party analysts. Yahoo! has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. Yahoo! and ThomsonFN shall not be liable for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.