March 21, 2023, 10:39 AMFILE - Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.
Earlier this month, the U.S. government said it would make depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank whole, even those with more than the $250,000 limit insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. They were the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history. Central banks have jacked up rates at a blistering pace in hopes of getting high inflation under control. But such moves act like huge hammers with little nuance. They try to bring down inflation by slowing the entire economy.
Earlier this month, much of Wall Street was bracing for the Fed to reaccelerate its hikes and raise by 0.50 percentage points. A string of reports on the economy came in hotter than expected, including data on the job market, retail sales and inflation itself.