As most of your are aware, the U.S. government and media like to brag that the number of bank failures during this meltdown is lower compared to previous financial crises. That is definitely true as shown in Chart 1 below. However, the true story shown in Chart 2 further below clearly indicates that the severity of bank failures with regard to assets and deposits is much higher than in the past. Throw in the bankrupt investment banks and mergers with other zombie financial entities and the values in Chart 2 would be exponential losses.

Some weekend reading - VHF

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Chart 1: Number of Bank Failures (from CR)

click to enlarge: http://tinyurl.com/65gk93

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Chart 2: Bank Failures in Assets and Deposits (from CR)

click to enlarge: http://tinyurl.com/5ndp4l