In an interview on CSPAN on January 27, 2009, Congressman Paul Kanjorski Chairman of the Capitol Markets Sub-committee told viewers of a 2008 electronic bank run reported by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to members of Congress in which the US economy was literally drained of $550 billion within a space of only two hours. He explained that by the estimation of the Secretary and Chairman, had immediate action not been taken, then by 2pm that same day, 5.5 trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States triggering a total collapse of the American economy and within 24 hours he said, “the word economy would have collapsed”.
Why did this not receive much more media attention and what was the cause of such a run? Additionally, according to a report published under a contractual arrangement with a sub-contractor of the US Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Support program, the Globe has lost about $50 trillion of global wealth since 2008 in the current financial crisis. Money does not just evaporate into thin air. It is currency (current) so it flows from one place to the other. Hence a better statement would be to say that $50 trillion has changed hands. But where is this money now and how did such a travesty occur? Who was on watch and who should be held accountable? These are questions that many are grappling with now. Hopefully, in upcoming posts, we can consider some of the myriad of answers proffered by various actors worldwide.