The Latest Breaking News from the Great Depression

Berkshire Hathaway's Munger criticized investors who trade like they're "gambling" and said it causes harm like the Great Depression.

Decades ago, when the late Harry Reid was relatively new to the upper chamber, a book arrived at our offices courtesy of the Democratic senator. It was “The Farm Fiasco” by libertarian author James Bovard, a piercing work that critically examined the labyrinth of subsidies, handouts, pork and market distortions…

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, 2023, came as a shock to most Americans. Even people like myself, a scholar of the U.S. banking system who has worked at the Federal Reserve, didn’t expect SVB’s collapse.

Big banks are attracting more deposits–and putting money back into failing banks. A similar system existed in the run-up to the Great Depression.

Why deposit insurance matters: Without it, America's press secretary had to put his money under a mattress in the 1930s.

It was a scene straight out of the Great Depression: a major California bank locking its doors and pulling down the shades as a horde of panicky depositors demanded their money.

Fears of an economic downturn are once again on the rise, but what is a recession, exactly? We tackle this and other questions here.