Taken for granter!

     There is so much in this modern life that we take for granted. How much time do you spend worrying about the safety and reliability of your financial bank? Yes, I've often been concerned about my bank balance, no matter how many check blanks are in the register. Worries about the money being there when it is needed is a thing of the past. A few years ago I could walk in to the bank in Sinai and ask for money, say $5000.00 and it would be provided with a simple signature. Those days are gone due new banking regulations intended to protect everyone's interest.

    When I read the historical piece below it was stark reminder of how much I take for granted. It also reminded me of the value of regulation. Roosevelt was certainly a leader!

    "On this date in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Banking Relief Act, kicking off 100 days of New Deal legislation.

Roosevelt had only been in office for five days. The country was in the grip of the Great Depression, and the banking system was on the verge of collapse as people rushed to withdraw their savings. Banks were closed in all 48 states. As soon as he took office, FDR called Congress into a special session that would last for three months. He declared a four-day “bank holiday” that shut down all banks and even the Federal Reserve while Congress worked on legislation. The Emergency Banking Act was introduced in the House first, and representatives were in such a hurry to pass it that they didn’t wait for their own individual copies, but rather listened as the single copy was read aloud, and voted on it immediately. In Roosevelt’s first radio Fireside Chat on March 12, 1933, he said: “The new law allows the 12 Federal Reserve Banks to issue additional currency on good assets and thus the banks that reopen will be able to meet every legitimate call. The new currency is being sent out by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to every part of the country.” The government hoped that these assurances would be enough to lure people — and their money — back to the beleaguered banks.

When the banks began opening up again the next morning, people lined up to bring their money back, and by the end of March, about two-thirds of the money that had been taken out of the nation’s banks had been redeposited. Wall Street took note and the stock market began to rebound. The Emergency Banking Act was designed to be only a temporary measure; later that year, Congress passed the 1933 Banking Act, which established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, which still guarantees deposits against bank failure. " Today's Writer's  Almanac

Takk for alt,

Al

Ship's refueling at sea: Our aircraft carrier on the left, the tanker in the middle, and a destroyer on the right, fueling simultaneously.