A diligent students emails me with this youtube video, where the US 'banking crisis' is discussed in some depth. What I'd like every EC6012 student to do is watch the video, have a think about it, and post a reaction to it in the comments. What do you think of the manner in which the data was presented? The data, by the way, is not wrong, check here for more information on it. Just the presentation. What is missing?
The presenter is confusing the total in the 1st column as being the amount borrowed. The actual borrowings that the institutions made are in the seventh column and the big changes come during credit auctions in column 6.
Column 2 + 7 = column 1 which is what the bank holds.
column 1 - 3 (the required amount) = column 4 the excess above/below the required.
These "injections" of cash were to cover the banks reserve requirements after they had taken such large write downs during this period. Right/wrong?
What happens if the banks don't meet the requirements? Would they have had to fold?
Is this what has also happened to Northern Rock, but just more publicised? When the ECB were "injecting" cash into the system recently was this for the same reason?
A better question is: If the banks don't meet the requirements for reserve borrowing, what are the penalties? And, why would a bank ever expose itself to the extremely risky position of chronic overexposure? Here's an interesting take on the first problem: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/Bernanke20060224a.htm
Also, if the confusions in the columns are accurate (I haven't time to check them now), then we've to write something about it on the groups' blogs.
Stephen
FT article which discusses this.
US banks borrow $50bn via new Fed facility
By Gillian Tett in London
Published: February 18 2008 20:34 | Last updated: February 18 2008 20:34
US banks have been quietly borrowing massive amounts of money from the Federal Reserve in recent weeks by using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch.
The use of the Fed’s Term Auction Facility, which allows banks to borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wider range of their assets than previously permitted, saw borrowing of nearly $50bn of one-month funds from the Fed by mid-February.
US officials say the trend shows that financial authorities have become far more adept at channelling liquidity into the banking system to alleviate financial stress, after failing to calm money markets last year.
However, the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the US banking system and the banks’ growing reliance on indirect forms of government support.
“The TAF ... allows the banks to borrow money against all sort of dodgy collateral,” says Christopher Wood, analyst at CLSA. “The banks are increasingly giving the Fed the garbage collateral nobody else wants to take ... [this] suggests a perilous condition for America’s banking system.”
The Fed announced the TAF tool on December 12 as part of a co-ordinated package of measures unveiled by leading western central banks to calm money markets.
The measure marks a distinct break from past US policy. Before its introduction, banks either had to raise money in the open market or use the so-called “discount window” for emergencies. However, last year many banks refused to use the discount window, even though they found it hard to raise funds in the market, because it was associated with the stigma of bank failure.
The Fed has not yet indicated how long the TAF will remain in place.
But the popularity of the scheme is prompting speculation the reform will stay in place as long as the financial stresses last.
“Some Fed officials have expressed an interest in keeping and possibly expanding the TAF,” says Michael Feroli, economist at JPMorgan.
Nevertheless, Mr Feroli said banks now appeared to be using the TAF instead of other funding routes, meaning that the overall level of reserves in the system was remaining constant. “The banking system certainly has its problems, however the notion that ... banks have trouble maintaining reserves stems from a superficial reading of the Fed’s statistical reports,” he said.