The dust has hardly settled on this week’s demise of First Republic Bank—swallowed up by JPMorgan Chase with the generous help of government bailout funds—and now the discussion in financial circles is: Who is next? PacWest and Western Alliance are at the top of most lists published in the financial media, but former Lehman Brothers VP Lawrence McDonald estimates that there are some 50 U.S. banks poised for collapse, according to an article in RT. McDonald’s view is that the FDIC’s deposit guarantees need to be raised way above the current level of $250,000, but that of course just passes more of the tab to the U.S. taxpayer. Other financial analysts think there are closer to 200 banks waiting.
A recent Gallup poll reports that almost half (48%) of all Americans don’t think their money is safe in the banks. The real question is: What planet are the other 52% living on?
