A Banking Joke

Did you ever hear the one about the [insert group you're discriminating against here] -ish bank robber who walked into a bank, held a gun to his own head and said, "Gimme all your money or the [insert group you're discriminating against here] -er gets it." (You can see a much better version of the joke in Blazing Saddles, but it's not quite on the mark for our purposes here)

That is exactly how the government policy "Too Big to Fail" works. Right now the 12 largest banks in the US hold 50% of total deposits. And by its complex nature, banking needs experts to properly regulate it. In this article an expert steps forward.

I wouldn't expect something like this to actually happen, but it sounds great: it's good for local businesses to have local banks able to compete, it's better for you the consumer when a cartel of giant banks can collude to erode your dollars with high fees; and it's good for investors (regardless of what they may tell you while they are getting high on artificial, short-term returns) to experience true, steady returns over the long-term in an environment of few or no bubbles in financial sectors created by the irresponsible actions of enormous players like Lehman Brothers (Rest in Peace), Bank of America, etc.