Thursday, April 29, 2010

Bring Back Sound Banks!

Good ideas from James Grant in the Washington Post

"The fear of God," replied George Gilbert Williams, president of the Chemical Bank of New York around the turn of the 20th century, when asked the secret of his success. "Old Bullion," they called Chemical for its ability to pay out gold to its depositors even at the height of a financial panic. Safety was Chemical's stock in trade. Nowadays, safety is nobody's franchise except Washington's. Gradually and by degree, starting in the 1930s -- and then, in a great rush, in 2008 -- the government has nationalized it.
Maybe out of the ashes of our current system we will get a sound and prudent, free market banking system.

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