Let’s talk about what’s going on in markets and the economy after the recent bank failures.

Quick recap: Over the last few weeks, several banks have collapsed under the pressure of bad management, high interest rates, portfolio losses, and a run of depositor withdrawals.

Since then, regulators, governments, and other major financial institutions have stepped in to take over troubled banks and guarantee deposits. ¹ ²

It has also emerged that Silicon Valley Bank (the first to fall) had already been under regulatory review by the Federal Reserve for more than a year about the very issues that triggered its collapse. ³

One of the possible silver linings of these failures is that other small institutions with similar problems are probably looking very hard at their books and reassessing their strategies to avoid a similar fate.

Is it 2008 all over again? Should we be worried about the financial system collapsing?

Deep breath. Let's discuss.

On March 10th, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a bank catering to startups, closed its doors after it could no longer cover withdrawals. (1)

Days later, regulators also took over Signature Bank.

There's reason to believe a number of other banks may be in trouble. (2) Rising interest rates are hitting many banking portfolios hard, and weaknesses are emerging.

Should we be panicked about these bank failures?