Thursday, March 16, 2023

There are 3 (and a half) reasons for the Silicon Valley Bank failure...

There are 3 (and a half) reasons for the Silicon Valley Bank failure. Change any one of the 3 and everything would have been ok.

1) Large deposits were not FDIC insured. If they had been, depositors would NOT have panicked. Congress MUST extend FDIC insurance (which is paid for by a fee on banks, and NOT by taxpayers) to cover ALL deposits in regulated banks.

2) The Fed changed interest rates TOO FAST.  Banks can live with high rates or low rates, but NOT with rapidly changing rates.

3) SVB management erred by buying longer-maturity treasury bonds.

3.5) Ending Dodd-Frank reduced regulatory oversight of banks in the $50B-$250B range. Even with DF, regulators might or might not have disallowed SVB's purchase of US bonds. Also, DF would do nothing to protect depositors in small banks.


"Most accidents do not have a single cause: there are usually multiple things that went wrong, multiple events that, had any one of them not occurred, would have prevented the accident." ― Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

Saturday, March 4, 2023

What is "Freedom?" My very personal perspective

 


For *ME*, Freedom (should we call it #HumanRights?) is:

1) The right to do whatever I want as long as it doesn't cause undue harm to another.

2) Being protected (by my government) from being harmed by others.


Some of the freedoms I personally have and am grateful for:

The right to eat what I choose.

The right to live where I choose.

My right (as an American citizen with a passport) to travel almost anywhere in the world.

My right (as an old American on Social Security) to work or not work as I prefer.

Clean water, safe food, emergency medical services and hospitals


Some of the freedoms I do NOT have that I personally think I should have:

The right to #DeathWithDignity.

The right to use whatever drugs I want for whatever purpose without needing a prescription. (Why should anyone else have the the right to prevent me from controlling my pain.)

The freedom to live without fear that my car will be stolen or my home broken into.

The right to have a bumper sticker on my car without being harassed and threatened.

The right to use the phone, messaging, and email without being assaulted by spam.


Some of the freedoms that I have to a large extent, but NOT enough:

The right to access everything that exists electronically (internet) and on paper.

The right to live without religion being imposed on me.


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Is freedom anything else than the right

to live as we wish? Nothing else.

- Epictetus


Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

- John F. Kennedy


Majority rule only works if you're also

considering individual rights,

because you can't have five wolves and one sheep

voting on what to have for dinner.

- Larry Flynt