SVB got special treatment because it’s in Silicon Valley

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour” program, New York Times Columnist David Brooks argued that the feds wouldn’t have been so quick to act if Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was located outside of Silicon Valley and that the feds acted so quickly because people” created a ‘might not be true’ narrative that this midsize bank, if it went bankrupt, the whole economy would go bankrupt. Valley Bank is bailed out – really – it seems tailor-made for our friend Donald Trump.

Brooks said: “[W]Would we have been so quick to act if it was called Monongahela Valley Bank, not Silicon Valley Bank? And my answer would be no, that the venture capitalists who invested in this bank and whose — the people that they invested in put money in this bank, they created a narrative that this size bank average, if it went bankrupt, the whole economy would go below. And once they created that narrative – which I think may not have been true – then, more or less, the feds had to act. And so, if I was a populist, I would jump around, because Silicon Valley Bank is bailed out? Really? It seems to be tailor-made for our friend Donald Trump.

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