Most of us are familiar with the fable about the tortoise and the hare. A slow-moving turtle challenges a speedy rabbit to a race. The hare sprints off from the starting line, leaving the tortoise in his literal dust. Feeling overly confident about what he perceives as inevitable victory, the hare lays down for a quick nap, oversleeps, and is overtaken by the tortoise.
Are banks the tortoise in this financial-crisis-to-coronavirus-era race?
There’s been plenty of anti-bank rhetoric since the financial crisis in the 2000s. And the industry has widely been criticized for being, well, too slow.
“Banks may not always be as fast as some of their newer competitors, but when push comes to shove, they remain central to the economic system,” noted Rob Blackwell this week in American Banker.
That’s been made evident in the last few weeks as:
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U.S. deposits rose almost 8% ($1 trillion)
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The Trump administration made banks a central player in the Paycheck Protection Program
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The Fed announced lending programs that’ll be issued by traditional banks
Like the contrast between the sluggish tortoise and zippy hare, public perception of banks as the problem in 2008 stands in opposition of the view of them as part of the solution right now.
