Remember those dreaded “compare & contrast” questions in college? We should do that for the current banking crisis (BC) and the 2008/9 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Ready?

Unemployment was much higher in the GFC.

The stock market dropped by roughly 50% during the GFC.

It took months for the GFC to develop but only days for the BC to develop. You can thank social media!

The cause for both was bad collateral, such as mortgage-backed securities and derivatives in the GFC. You can thank Wall Street!

Today, the Fed’s reckless increase in interest rates made bonds (including Treasury bonds) less valuable. You can thank the Fed!

The GFC was largely an institutional run-on-the-bank, which the BC has largely been a retail run-on-the-bank. (You’ll never fully understand a retail run-on-the-bank until you’ve watched the 1946 classic movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”.)

While not entirely clear, the banking examiners/auditors may have become less focused on risk and overly focused on paperwork. It’s a common problem among retu

During the GFC, investors were largely “bailed-out” but only depositors are saved in today’s BC . . . so far.

Interesting side-note: The collapse of Credit Suisse was largely due to the Saudis, who were the bank’s long-time investor/lender but then deserted them when they were most needed.

This too shall pass . . .