As we already know, Silicon Valley Bank, one of tech’s favorite lenders, has collapsed, becoming the second-largest bank failure in US history. The bank’s blowup has sent shockwaves across the tech sector, Wall Street, and Washington, amid concerns that other banks could be in trouble or that contagion could set in. In the days after SVB’s collapse, the panic appeared to spread, leading to the failure of additional banks, including Signature Bank of New York, which had bet on crypto. But it’s not clear how serious the fallout will be.

In this episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied examine this news and determine the effect it will have on the economy as a whole.

They discuss news that Goldman Sachs no longer believes that the Federal Reserve will deliver a rate hike at its meeting next week, citing “recent stress” in the financial sector.

Chris and Saied look at comments from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicating that a major government bailout of Silicon Valley Bank is not an option.

They also offer some thoughts on the departure of Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker from the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating and informative conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• What actually happened at Silicon Valley Bank and which sector has been hurt most by its collapse.
• Why 14 years of artificial interest rate deflation and unprecedented interest rate increases were guaranteed to create problems.
• The bizarre phenomenon of new jobs being implemented on a monthly basis while layoffs continue to happen.
• How Silicon Valley Bank made the Forbes list of America’s Best Banks for the fifth consecutive year.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"What’s Going on With Silicon Valley Bank?" (article from The Wall Street Journal)

"US Discusses Fund to Backstop Deposits If More Banks Fail" (article from Bloomberg)

"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says U.S. government won’t bail out Silicon Valley Bank" (article from CNBC)

"Strong jobs report shows 311,000 jobs added in February" (article from CBS News)

"Fed Rate Pivot Is Back in Play" (article from Bloomberg)

"Goldman Sachs no longer expects the Fed to hike rates in March, cites stress on banking system" (article from CNBC)

"CEO of failed Silicon Valley Bank no longer a director at San Francisco Fed" (article from Reuters)

"Stablecoin USDC breaks dollar peg after firm reveals it has $3.3 billion in SVB exposure" (article from CNBC)

"What Country Has the Most Banks?" (article from HelgiLibrary)