In the wake of recent bank failures, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed during remarks on Thursday that the “banking system is sound.”
“I can reassure the members of the committee that our banking system is sound and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them,” Yellen said while speaking before the Senate Finance Committee. “This week’s actions demonstrate our resolute commitment to ensure that our financial system remains strong and that depositors’ savings remain safe.”
Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank both recently collapsed, sparking fears of possible contagion that could wreak havoc throughout the financial system — depositors at the banks are being bailed out and will not lose the funds they held at the institutions.
Republican Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri has suggested that the government should temporarily insure all bank deposits, according to Politico.
“If you don’t do this, there’s going to be a run on your smaller banks,” Luetkemeyer said, according to the outlet. “Everyone’s going to take their money out and run to the JPMorgan’s and these too-big-to-fail banks, and they’re going to get bigger and everybody else is going to get smaller and weaker, and it’s going really be bad for our system.”
Yellen also said on Thursday that she does not think deficit spending is one of the main reasons for inflation.
Prior to Jerome Powell’s tenure as Fed chair, Yellen served as chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System for a four-year period that concluded in early February 2018. She was the first woman to serve as Fed chair, and she is also the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary.
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