Silicon Valley losing some of its luster?

kbasa said:

It's kind of surprising that folks don't seem to understand banking and are unaware of how the FDIC works.

The 2008 collapse was brought about through the sale of CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligations) and this doesn't have any of that in it that I can see. This was driven by bad investments by the bank, not sale of high risk investment instruments on Wall Street.

It's entirely different. Your tax dollars aren't going to be involved in making the depositors whole, the Federal Depositors Insurance Company will ensure they are reimbursed via the insurance funds SVB paid into FDIC.

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I've always been curious on how the FDIC can insure money that it doesn't have. Since it was created by Congress, does it have an actual budget that it can use to invest in case money needs to be paid out?
I mean, if my bank failed and I lost $250,000, would the FDIC go to the Federal Reserve and print more paper to give me or would they have it in an account, ready to go?

RPGR90s said:

I mean, if my bank failed and I lost $250,000, would the FDIC go to the Federal Reserve and print more paper to give me or would they have it in an account, ready to go?

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A quick google found that the FDIC collects premiums from banks and savings association to cover the insurance needs.

20774 said:

A quick google found that the FDIC collects premiums from banks and savings association to cover the insurance needs.

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Indeed! Like other insurance companies it charges insured banks premiums which then pay for losses. And if losses go up then premiums go up. So many banks will be paying higher insurance premiums (not unlike houses in flood prone coastal areas, but that is another issue). And those banks may charge customers higher fees for whatever they charge fees for - checking accounts, over-drafts, debit cards, loans, etc. So in the end, the customers pay. Gotta keep the share holders share value and dividends up!!

If any of you interested in how this came to be, you can read about The Meeting at Jekyll Island. Bunch of "good 'ol boys got together".

It does lead to the question of how the monetary system was originally "thought" to work.

OM

Omega Man said:

If any of you interested in how this came to be, you can read about The Meeting at Jekyll Island. Bunch of "good 'ol boys got together".

It does lead to the question of how the monetary system was originally "thought" to work.

OM

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As outlined by Adam Smith, the patron saint of capitalism and the invisible hand, both banks and capitalism needed close oversight and regulation in order to maintain the level playing field he envisioned as required and optimal for the long-term success of capitalist systems. But he was especially outspoken on those needs for banks.

Best,
DeVern

20774 said:

A quick google found that the FDIC collects premiums from banks and savings association to cover the insurance needs.

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Appreciate the info.

Omega Man said:

If any of you interested in how this came to be, you can read about The Meeting at Jekyll Island. Bunch of "good 'ol boys got together".

It does lead to the question of how the monetary system was originally "thought" to work.

OM

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I read that back in the 80's.

It all made sense when I remember my grandfather saying to me as a kid, "If the government can print a $20 bill for the same cost as a $1 bill, it's fraud". He was trying to explain how the gold standard had worked, I guess.

RPGR90s said:

I read that back in the 80's.

It all made sense when I remember my grandfather saying to me as a kid, "If the government can print a $20 bill for the same cost as a $1 bill, it's fraud". He was trying to explain how the gold standard had worked, I guess.

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BINGO!

Well worth understanding.

OM

And, it costs more to mint a penny than the penny is worth, but we do it anyway.

PGlaves said:

And, it costs more to mint a penny than the penny is worth, but we do it anyway.

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Pretty sure RPGR90s was relating to “exchange rate value”. When beaver pelts for corn was in the “exchange”, value was easily understood.
OM

In celebration and anticipation of the upcoming 2PM decision coming today-

https://www.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/an_answer_to_a.html

Economics, “what a concept”!

OM

I’m still trying to figure out pork bellies, and what that has to do with the price of rice in China.

rangerreece said:

I’m still trying to figure out pork bellies, and what that has to do with the price of rice in China.

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If the hogs eat rice they have leaner bellies than if they eat wheat, corn, or alfalfa.

Did someone say pork bellies?????

** Insert drooling emoji here **

As for the "luster" of Silicon Valley (in the thread title) I have my own jaded viewpoint. The gloss started to disappear when the DotCom bubble burst into the DotCom bust. Then as survivor companies expanded to make a handfull of kids billionaires, they tried to properly manage tens of thousands of employees, creating companies designed to spy on people and sell their personal information. The effect on the real estate market drove many long-term owners and tenants to be forced to flee the rising costs of housing. The area was a major player in the 2008 housing market crash that caused the "Great Recession." Now with the total lack of concern for employees and loyalty, the jolly oligarchs are firing tens of thousands of employees in a single multitude of great budget whacks! And greed caused the principal players in Silicon Valley Bank to be equity stock holders, major borrowers, and large depositors all at the same time. In few words, the culture stinks!! As always and for sure, YMMV

PGlaves said:

As for the "luster" of Silicon Valley (in the thread title) I have my own jaded viewpoint. The gloss started to disappear when the DotCom bubble burst into the DotCom bust. Then as survivor companies expanded to make a handfull of kids billionaires, they tried to properly manage tens of thousands of employees, creating companies designed to spy on people and sell their personal information. The effect on the real estate market drove many long-term owners and tenants to be forced to flee the rising costs of housing. The area was a major player in the 2008 housing market crash that caused the "Great Recession." Now with the total lack of concern for employees and loyalty, the jolly oligarchs are firing tens of thousands of employees in a single multitude of great budget whacks! And greed caused the principal players in Silicon Valley Bank to be equity stock holders, major borrowers, and large depositors all at the same time. In few words, the culture stinks!! As always and for sure, YMMV

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I have different take on things. The overall cost of living here has impacted things. IMO, the main cause of the great recession was Wall Street selling loans on the secondary market as something a lot better than they actually were. Consequently, things started falling apart when payments weren't made on the junk loans. That's my take in heartbeat. Unfortunately, there's no good way to talk about this without bringing politics into it, since rules and regulations were changed, and that was done by politicians. So, that's all I'll say here.

PGlaves said:

As always and for sure, YMMV

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As someone who has worked deep inside Silicon Valley, Silicon Hill* and the Silicon Alley since the early 80s, I think you missed two key drivers: technical r/evolution and exceptional talent.

Both are driven by money, and the pace of change is so fast (increasingly so)… one never has the benefit of 20/20 hindsight because “something like this has never been done before.” And the people who know how to do the new thing make a lot, a LOT of money.

The DotBomb times happened because of unrealistic expectations for profits, driving ridiculous stock (and other commodity) valuations, and every bubble bursts. We used to sit in Venture Capital/Big Money conference calls, listening to a startup’s funding pitch while sending texts between ourselves saying “this will never work”… and then hear people like Paul Allen throw down for “fifty.” (That would be 50 million dollars).

The real vaporware here is financialization, creating money out of nothing.

Ian

* this was Norcross, GA… near Atlanta. We had a different term for it: Redneck High Tech.