>Jake, government saved all banks in the US. If Citibank and the big boys began failing, smart depositors at every bank would pull their $ to store under the bed or buy diamonds or whatever. In 2009 no bank can survive if large numbers of depositors do this. Banks that survived the initial chaos would have to start calling in mortgages and loans to satisfy depositors, but would end up with bankrupted borrowers and unsaleable properties that are no use to depositors. So those banks would have had to default too. This would have happened if not for government action. So IMHO all banks owe government big time and can't claim "we did not need the money" as if they are immune to depositor panic or widespread borrower bankruptcies. Besides, if government really wanted to take over banking, the smart thing would have been to allow the disaster and then step in with draconian powers against which nobody could argue. Maybe we need to be careful what we wish for. ;-)

I respectfully disagree. Most deposits in this country are insured through the FDIC. It's specifically designed to prevent runs by panicked depositors.