Thanks for your comment. I think you’re referring to uber-beat Nouriel Roubini? He’s been Mr. Debbie Downer for the last few years, and to most people’s annoyance, he’s been correct far more often than not.

Without knowing the true condition of either Countrywide or BOA, I have no way of knowing if Countrywide can take down your bank. I would guess that Countrywide has just as much toxic crapola on their books as IndyMac, since they were also very active in the CA mortgage market.

The FDIC’s job is to guarantee deposits up to a certain amount. The problem as I see it, is that the US Dollar is more or less a figment of our imagination… it is not backed by anything, and it’ worth is directly tied to people’s confidence in the currency and by how much is floating around. If Countrywide goes down and takes BOA with it, the FDIC will step in and cover savings accounts up to a given amount ($100,000?). If they are able to ‘cover’ your savings by creating more dollars out of thin air, you’ll have your money, but it will be worth less due to the expansion of the money supply. These are the big unknowns that worry me. We can always create more dollars if necessary… they just will buy less & less stuff over time if we keep printing money.

For what it’s worth, I’m an amateur at this econ stuff as well. I understand parts of it well, and other parts not very well at all. Do your due diligence, and if you’re truly worried about your holdings, by all means ask a professional…

I’ve read many of Prof. Klare’s pieces online over the last few years. His work has impressed me. I’ll try to acquire a reading copy of his newest book.

From what I can tell, our Iranian friends are playing games trying to jack the price of oil up and are playing some dangerous games with the USA & Israel. We’ll see if all this brinksmanship adds up to anything or not. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in the end. I have no wish to see $10 gas any sooner than is absolutely necessary.