Hi everyone,
In 2018, the FBI investigated 3,033 bank robberies.
That's down from 3,937 in 2017, and 4,251 in 2016.
Back in 2003, there were 7,644 robberies.
Why is the number dropping? It's not because we're all better people.
People have been robbing banks in the United States since 1831... and despite security cameras, bait money, guards, man traps, exploding dye canisters, bandit barriers, tracking devices, social media, and the fact that the average bank robber gets away with just $7,725 — people still rob banks.
Human beings invent ways to protect the things that are valuable to us. Crappier human beings work out ways to take them away.
But remember this: regulators fined banks almost $10 billion for breaking the law throughout 2019... equivalent to 1,294,498 bank robberies.
Meanwhile, the $2.2 trillion CARES Act allocates around $500 billion to large corporations — many of the same companies that used tax cuts to fund their own stock buybacks.
More insidiously, the Fed has gradually introduced a variety of measures to add liquidity to markets, including buying up $2 trillion of assets and debt.
While these are tough times, some have described this a massive transfer of wealth to the already-wealthy.
Put into context, ~$6.2 trillion of helicopter money is enough to fund a bank robbery for every single adult and child in the United States, Russia, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Spain, Australia, Canada, and Greece.
Actual bank robberies are dropping because we have better tools for catching criminals, which means the risk/reward ratio is not as attractive to thieves.
But that ratio seems to be improving for the bankers. And we keep electing the politicians.
Maybe the real thieves wear suits, not masks.
Just a thought.
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