Bank Failures: Trust in Freefall

In an economy already stretched thin, banks were supposed to be the last line of stability. Instead, 2025 added another chapter to the long tradition of institutions collapsing under the weight of their own greed.

When regional banks crumble and global firms scramble, it’s not just stockholders who suffer — it’s retirees, small business owners, and families who thought their money was safe. In the Rifted economy, even the vaults have cracks.

Too Big to Fail — Again?

Fifteen years after the Great Recession, the promises of reform are as shredded as foreclosure notices. Deregulation, risk-taking, and the seductive pursuit of short-term profits have returned with a vengeance. And once again, when the banks lose, taxpayers become their emergency parachutes.

Banks are never too big to fail — they’re just too connected to be allowed to fall quietly.

The Contagion Nobody Admits

Financial contagion doesn’t spread like a virus anymore — it spreads like rumor and fear. One regional bank collapse leads to stock runs elsewhere, and within days, public confidence bleeds across the entire sector.

Confidence isn’t just shaken — it’s in freefall.

Winners and Losers (Spoiler: You’re the Loser)

When banks fail, who really suffers? Not the CEOs who exit with multi-million dollar “retirement” packages. Not the executives who cash out stock options just before the fall.

The casualties are small businesses locked out of credit. Families whose savings evaporate. Communities stripped of local banking lifelines — all while elite investors move their assets offshore without missing a brunch reservation.

The Myth of Safe Money

Bank failures reveal the deeper truth: there’s no such thing as “safe money” in a system built on leveraged illusions. FDIC guarantees offer comfort until they don’t. Emergency bailouts buy time until the next domino falls.

In the Rifted economy, the real asset isn’t cash — it’s power. And power knows where to hide.