Failure of a banking system or failure of a currency causes a momentary response of stupefying fear, followed by a determination to do something to protect what is left of one's interests.

What follows is a link from jsmineset examining some of the FDIC banking closures and the costs incurred. It analyzes the number of banks involved, the increasing number as time passes, the failure rate and how it has changed. It shows the real costs of closure and what this indicates about the true value of the assets all banks have on their books.

And finally it makes some projections of just how many banks might fail based on what is currently known in the public sector based on FDIC reports.

By the time this mess hits its full stride people will be desperate to put their money in something other than "paper."

http://jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Key-FDIC-Enforcement-Actions-Final-100125.pdf

I will add for what its worth that the balance sheets of the pension funds of most companies and municipalities and states are every bit as bad. Don't expect to get your full monthly benefits from these plans. Some time ago the warning was given to take the hit and get out of these "things" while the getting was good. Those who heeded that call and put their money in metals sleep reasonably well at night. The terrors for the rest of the "shoeple" are still just building and building and building. Once they start to to realize there will be no recovery they will take action as a mass unit, still a ways off yet, then the real mania will start.

P.