Insider

Your all-access pass to FP

Adam Tooze: The Non-Bailout Bailout

Bad management and bad luck prompted the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. What about other banks?

By , a deputy editor at Foreign Policy.
A Silicon Valley Bank logo is seen in Tempe, Arizona.
A Silicon Valley Bank logo is seen in Tempe, Arizona.
A Silicon Valley Bank logo is seen in Tempe, Arizona, on March 14. REBECCA NOBLE/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. federal government only insures bank deposits up to the amount of $250,000—under normal circumstances. But the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week triggered an extraordinary intervention, with Washington guaranteeing all deposits in full. It was an acknowledgment of the possibility that SVB’s failure might have produced a cascade of bank runs across the financial system—and also a reflection of the special status of the bank’s community of depositors, centered on California’s tech economy.

Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @CameronAbadi

Join the Conversation

Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.

Already a subscriber? .

Join the Conversation

Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.

Not your account?

Join the Conversation

Please follow our comment guidelines, stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs.

You are commenting as .

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.