Recent podcasts have been helpful in making sense of the "run on the bank" at Silicon Valley Bank. Jessica listened to this 16 minute podcast (with transcript), Can the Government Contain a Banking Crisis?, and created this listening guide that includes a variety of questions (multiple choice, open-ended response, picture drawing and more!) to check for understanding. 

Here's a few shorter explainer segments from Marketplace and the Indicator: 

• How Silicon Valley Bank failed (3 minutes) on Friday, 3/10
  • What were the major causes of the bank's failure? 
  • How much insurance do depositor's have when they put their money in a bank with FDIC insurance? 

• Silicon Valley Bank's three fatal flaws (9 minutes) on Monday, 3/13
  • Why does one bank failure often lead to concerns about other failures to come (contagion)? 
  • What were SVB's three fatal flaws?
  • What would having lots of deposits at a bank be considered "risky?"

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More in-depth information here on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank 

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Jessica Endlich

When I started working at Next Gen Personal Finance, it's as though my undergraduate degree in finance, followed by ten years as an educator in an NYC public high school, suddenly all made sense.