Bank Run: what we can look forward to

Here's something from Time (Monday May 27, 1985), as posted in The Housing Bubble Blog:

When a savings and loan crisis hit Maryland last week, depositors knew all too well what to do. They gathered up their lawn chairs, thermos bottles and portable radios and lined up outside the banks as if they were embarking on a familiar American outing. In a sense, they were. Only two months ago, depositors across the U.S. witnessed scenes right out of the Great Depression during a panic that temporarily shut down Ohio’s 69 privately insured thrifts. At the time, Governor Richard Celeste warned several other states that they should prepare for similar events. “You’re sitting on a time bomb,” he told Maryland Governor Harry Hughes.

As many banks start to fail, this will be a small foretaste of what might happen. On the other hand, with internet (& phone) access, people may try to withdraw from the web right when the rumor starts and spread the panic online. [Where they will take the money to may be another failing bank so it may not make sense...]

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