Illusion

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.” George Orwell

This is a follow-up to my 03.17.23 post, “Deception”. For those that didn’t see the deception it spoke to for what it was, they are welcome to their illusions. I find that disturbing if that’s what they’ve done as seeking refuge in illusions is a denial of reality, a forfeiture of your existence as a sentient human being, the consequences of which exposes you to deceptions; alternatively, let’s look again at the facts.

The simple fact about the SVB and Signature Bank bailout is that it’s a fraud presented as a virtue. It is a fact that the FDIC, with support from the Fed and the UST, openly and admittedly made good on all of the debts of banks so grossly mismanaged as to be a case of financial criminal negligence. Unless we call it for what it is, we don’t have the right to complain about the consequences; as Orwell stated above, not to do so makes us delinquent in our duty as intelligent people.

The excuse for such behavior on the part of those that are supposed to be the guardians of our economic wellbeing was to avoid “contagion”; another instance of deception by misrepresenting a simple case of fraudulent behavior in order to create an illusion of a crisis. The SVB was a club for rich techies to play games with other people’s money, and paying political contributions for getting-out-of-jail-free cards. Months before the collapse there were red flag warnings that this bank was headed for disaster, yet nothing was done. Then it tanks and in comes all the usual suspects to not only provide FDIC insurances, but helicopter money rescue for all. We are told not to worry, it’s all covered, no pain for the American taxpayer – but the facts tell us otherwise.

Then we get the contradictory assurances that there’s no need for concern as the banking system is stronger than ever as banks are highly capitalized against the kind of failures we saw in 2008.  If that were the case then it contradicts the narrative supporting bailouts to prevent contagion. Having such contradictory explanations about what was done has created confusion and speculation, causing many to put their hard earned money in money markets, CDs, or just plain and ready cash. The result is just what either of the government’s explanations was meant to avoid since what we need for growth is investment in order for businesses to expand.

In order for the FDIC to guarantee up to $250,000 of depositors’ money, it maintains a cash reserve called the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF), and all banks are obligated to pay an insurance premium based on the FDIC’s assessments into that fund. As was the case with the 2008 Financial Crisis, and again with SVB and Signature Bank, the FDIC guaranteed all deposits. There was not then, and there was not now any legislative process for this, a blatant unconstitutional act as only Congress has the legal power for such actions. In order to replenish the DIF, the FDIC will issue a “special assessment”; while what this will amount to remains to be determined, as with the 2008 bailouts the result will be a per-share hit to earnings for shareholders and increased bank fees for customers.

Like inflation, such corporate welfare is not for the benefit of the American people, but a poorly disguised illusion to benefit those that support the current power brokers; payback is our burden to carry for their benefit.