Re:Bill Ackman: The gov't has about 48h to fix a-soon-to-be-...
by matthewdgreen on Saturday March 11, 2023 @11:32AM
(#35109841)
Risky startups run (or funded) by people like Bill Ackman who have been urging the Fed to tighten its monetary policy [1], which is precisely the policy that caused SVB to fail.
[1] https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1529133155801829380
Re:Bill Ackman: The gov't has about 48h to fix a-soon-to-be-...
by mustache_kimono on Saturday March 11, 2023 @12:30PM
(#35110527)
> It's a little more complicated.
I'd beg to disagree. Bank makes bad bets. VCs put all their eggs in bad bank. VCs now hold a gun to our head.
"But the depositors?!" Who is a depositor of more than $250K cash in an account who can't take a 20-30% haircut, because they didn't understand FDIC insurance? And why shouldn't they? Because they're special?
This is an argument that only makes sense to people with mid 6 figure salaries, a gold plated benefits package, stock options/grants, Uber Eats for lunch. Everyone else says -- "Looks like those depositors made a mistake, huh?"
Nobody wants to socialize the loss for the bank's management or stockholders. They're gonna be wiped out regardless.
But we socialize losses for bank depositors all the time, it's a lot less objectionable generally. It's just harder to be sympathetic when the depositors are risky startups.