Small time savers don't get higher interest rates on their savings accounts than institutional investors. If you give high guaranteed interest rates on savings accounts during turmoil, all the money goes there, which is problematic.

Investors get paid to take risks. The less risk you want, the less you get paid, and there is a point at which you're taking so little risk that you get paid less than you lose to moths and rust. During hard times, the level of risk required to get a positive return is higher.