01/11/2015 - European Bank Runs Could Come To America
Interview with Boston University Economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff .. Kotlikoff says Greece is in financial trouble & that could set off another global financial calamity: “So, you have the same problem. You have a country that is fiscally unsustainable, and they haven’t really been able to get out from under that situation .. It sets up a situation where you could have runs on other banks like in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and that could spread to other banks in other countries, including France and Germany. Remember, the big to do about the Cypriot banks that failed and said they weren’t going to pay off the depositors? That led to a major international panic. It was a small country with two relatively small banks.” .. bank bailins & financial repression .. a daisy chain of defaults and bank runs could happen in Europe: “It could also come to the U.S. If everybody believes the banks are going to be solvent and they can get their money out, that’s fine. But if everybody starts to run on the banks, you want to run before they do because you want to get you money out before it’s all gone.” .. sees the potential for U.S. hyperinflation if there is a loss of confidence in the FDIC deposit insurance system, as depositors take their money out & buy something real .. on the U.S. unfunded liabilities: “Social security is 33% under-financed, according to its own trustees report .. Our entire fiscal enterprise is about 58% under-financed .. the country is really broke.” .. 33 minutes
