Collective Financial Insanity – FDIC operating with negative insurance fund

02-16-2011 • MyBudget360.com

People psychologically are programmed to believe in financial realities that benefit their own cause even if they have no merit in empirical data. Many also forget that banks, especially the investment kind have a notorious track record of running amok when allowed to. The FDIC and US banking is a perfect example of a system built on nothing more than faith. Currently the FDIC insures individual deposit accounts up to $250,000. Given that most average Americans only have $2,000 saved up this is rarely an issue. However, FDIC insured banks have $5.4 trillion through insured deposits yet have a deposit insurance fund (DIF) that is in the negative to the tune of $8 billion. Is this a Ponzi scheme you ask? Not exactly but it shows that the entire financial edifice that we call US banking is built on largely a foundation of sand being held together by pure psychological confidence. Just look at this chart below; as insured deposits grow the insurance fund actually dwindles: