The Bank Run That Was Started by a Typo
In 1930, the Bank of United States collapsed partly because panicked depositors confused it with the actual U.S. government. This episode traces how a name, a rumor, and a queue outside one Bronx branch snowballed into one of the largest bank failures in American history.
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A merchant's misunderstood stock request triggered a bank run involving twenty-five thousand people in the Bronx.
Depositors mistakenly believed the Bank of United States was a government institution due to its official-sounding name.
Police and mounted units were required to manage crowds as two million dollars left a single branch.
Extending bank hours to calm the public backfired by signaling an emergency to panicked depositors.
The bank's collapse was a symptom of systemic rot rather than the start of the Great Depression.
State authorities officially closed the bank on December eleventh, nineteen thirty, following the massive public riot.
- 01Intro1 min
- 02The Spark at Southern Boulevard2 min
- 03The Power of a Name3 min
- 04The Mechanics of Contagion3 min
- 05The Myth of the First Domino1 min
- 06Outro1 min
- Bank of United States - Wikipedia
- Branches of Bank of United States in the Bronx Meet All Withdrawal ...
- BANK OF U.S. CLOSES DOORS; STATE TAKES OVER AFFAIRS; AID OFFERED TO DEPOSITORS; ACTION BY CLEARING HOUSE Twenty-three Members Willing to Lend 50% on Accounts. $160,000,000 IN DEPOSITS $1,500,000 of City Money and $164,927 Postal Savings-- Garment Funds Tied Up. CROWDS AT OFFICES CALM McFadden, Fearing Effect Abroad, Explains Institution Has No Government Connection. Ask Broderick to Take Charge. STATE TAKES OVER THE BANK OF U.S. Washburn Reveals an Inquiry. Postal Savings in Bank. Official of Bank Optimistic. Washburn Tells of Inquiry. Tell of Past Negotiations. Negotiations Fall Through. Clearing House Acts. Realty Mortgages a Problem. Garment Trade Affected.
- Bank of U.S. Redux
- Too Big to Fail in 1930: The Failed Bank of United States and The Long Shadow of East European Jewish Immigrant Banking
- Bank Run - Definition & The Great Depression
- [PDF] Understanding bank-run contagion
- Bank Runs - an overview
- The Truth About Bank Runs, SM-87-3 - FRASER
- [PDF] Contagion Effects of the Silicon Valley Bank Run - NBER
- An Experiment on the Causes of Bank Run Contagions
- FINANCIAL STRESS, BANK SOLVENCY, AND ...
- warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications
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