According to recent economic data and the numbers showing exposure to different institutions, we are headed to another financial crisis. The S&L crisis in the '90s was due to the sale of junk bonds and to widespread accounting failures. The Enron debacle was due to a large scale Ponzi scheme involving pump and dump techniques. The financial crisis of 2008 was largely due to the bubble of the housing market popping and letting the toxic subprime mortgages suffocate every other financial institution. What's causing the next one? I'll give you a hint: It has to do with banks.
Ever since the crisis of 2008, the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates insanely low (although relative to the rest of the world its remarkably high). As a result, net investments in all sectors has gone up drastically, as expected. However, investments in all sectors have been going up dramatically, creating large financial exposures to most banks. In other words, most banks are going into riskier investments in all sectors, pumping capital into more questionable investments. This is creating a bubble in asset prices, and when asset prices begin to fall to other forces besides interest rates, there will be a large scale financial debacle.
This is the first looming crisis of its kind. Never before has a crisis been instigated because of rising price levels in every sector. Naturally, an excess amount of liquidity and risk in the financial sector is the cause. The banks responsible for insuring everyone's money will be at fault this time around and may inevitably crash beyond the hope of being saved. Ever since widespread distaste for the financial industry and system in general, the hope of Wall Street and especially for the big banks to save themselves has been drastically reduced. Our financial system is on the road to total collapse. This has nothing to do with your stance on whether or not bailing out the large scale institutions is just or not. This is simply a fact. This crisis may not happen for a few years, but it is destined to crash on the road we are following.
All the elements are aligned. The distrust of the banks. Wall Street's inevitable avaricious mindset that forces them to lust for profit without honor. Lower regulation by the higher-ups and a lack of any major efforts to bolster barriers against these types of crises. The average individual who does not belong to the one percent needs to be wary of the numbers and to keep their money safe as best as they can. On the bright side, this cataclysmic event might be the final nail that re-writes our financial system.
