The English word ‘bank’ meaning a depository and lending institution, derives from the Italian word ‘banca’, or ‘bench.’ This belies the origins of modern finance in Renaissance Italy, where deals initially struck at coffee house bench evolved into the great trading and banking houses of the Medicis, where double-entry book keeping enabled the matching of debtors with creditors that spurred the growth of industrial Europe over the coming centuries. Today, with daily capital flows measured in the trillions of dollars enabled by high-speed fiber optics and a global communications network, major decisions happen much more quickly, and because of the levered nature of fractional reserve finance, regional concern can magnify into global contagion faster than an actual pandemic. In the case of last weekend, where Silicon Valley Bank, one of the top-30 global banks went into receivership, the political institutions of the United States were caught off guard, and in an attempt to quell further concerns, went into overdrive this week as the Federal Reserve discount window was opened guaranteeing the assets of all major banks. Not to be outdone, the Swiss National Bank just intervened in the takeover of Credit Suisse, a century and half years old institution, to further halt panic in European markets. Memories of the 2008 financial crisis are on everyone’s mind, and the ripple effects of these events are surely to continue throughout the year.
Myth of the 20th Century – Episode 250 – BANKING CRISIS – After Dark
— References —
Cybernetics – Across the Grid
Podiums, Plagues and Politics – After Dark
Banana Imperialism – Central America and the Rise of the United Fruit Company
Invaders Within – Outbreak and the Threat of Bioweapons
Chernobyl – Meltdown of an Empire
Day of Deceit – The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
The Mormon Question – Destiny and Faith
2019 – Year in Review
Metal Gear – Legacy of the Patriots
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Russian Revolution and its Consequences – Dr. Matthew Rafael Johnson
Bell Labs – The Idea Factory
The Amish – Living Plain
Halloween 2019 – After Dark
Winter of Discontent – 1978-79 Britain
Octopus PROMIS – The Conspiracy Against INSLAW and the Murders to Cover It Up
Stuka Pilot – Hans-Ulrich Rudel
The Z Man – Reaching the Tipping Point
Soldiers of Fortune – from Mercenaries to PMCs
Lothrop Stoddard – The Rising Tide of Color
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