National banks must generally limit their extensions of credit to a single borrower to 15% of capital. This limit increases to 25% for loans secured by “readily marketable collateral.” …In contrast, the Pittsburgh FHLB’s advances to PNC represent 637% of FHLB’s capital. The San Francisco FHLB’s extensions to JPMC were 397% of capital.

The FDIC must resolve bank failures at the least cost to the insurance fund. However, a systemic risk exception allows resolutions that are more costly, at least in the short run. The SVB resolution provides a case in point. The FDIC estimates a resolution cost of $17.8 billion (on total assets of $209 billion). However,…

Gil Hodges was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.  More than 20,000 have played major league baseball, but only 271 reached the Hall of Fame as a player.  While making the Hall is certainly a big deal, his road to Cooperstown was a long one, especially considering the strong early support for…

Senator William Proxmire bestowed a monthly Golden Fleece Award that highlighted what he saw as wasteful government projects. Proxmire was a talented self-promoter, and the press ate it up. Unfortunately, his characterization of the supposed waste was sometimes misleading. The amounts involved were often trivial relative to overall government spending and illustrates a tendency in…