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Glenn's Show Prep

Will Millennials Turn to Capitalism or Socialism on Their Quest for Truth?

October 18, 2016
Lori Hanes

Writer

Authenticity without truth and humility means nothing. Millennials, especially Christian millennials, are looking for authentic leaders who will make a difference in the world. On a quest for truth, they want actions, not words.

"Don't count millennials out. Millennials are the hero generation. They are just biding their time and looking for someone that will stand up and say, let's go this way," Glenn said.

RELATED: Time to Pass the Baton to the Next Hero Generation: The Millennials 

No one understands this important block of voters more than Audrea Taylor. Formerly with TheBlaze, Audrea launched Because I Care to reach millennials across the U.S. The program has reached students on 40 college campuses, informing them about the importance of voting.

"We want to make a difference. And so we have to connect that to voting and help millennials understand that part of your civic responsibility and part of you making a difference, part of the way that you love and serve and care for your neighbor is in the voting booth and the way that you elect your leaders and who you elect to represent you and delegate that authority to," Taylor said.

Audrea joined Glenn on his radio program Tuesday to talk about the success of Because I Care and what millennials really want.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these questions:

• Do millennials affiliate with a political party?

• What is the number one goal of millennials?

• What do millennials have in common with the generations that came up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II?

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN:  A good friend of the program.  And somebody who used to work for me and is now on their own doing a campaign, Because I care.  And it's BecauseICare.us.  Right?

AUDREA:  Correct.  Yeah.

GLENN:  And you have felt compelled for a long time to work with millennials.  At 17 years old, you were out doing all kinds of things.  And I think you're a rising superstar.  

Tell me -- tell me where millennials are right now.

AUDREA:  They're just apathetic to the political process.  They don't like the candidates.  They don't like the parties, even.  And so I think the concern is that a lot of them are going to stay home.  They're -- a lot of polling and studies are showing that millennials are less engaged than they were in 2012.

GLENN:  Which is the opposite of what the Democrats thought would happen, because of Barack Obama.  They thought they would develop this army of millennials who would come and march into battle with them, one after the other.

AUDREA:  Not the case.  Not the case.  So what they're discovering is that millennials are really fair game right now for anyone because they're -- they're seeing through the hypocrisy in both parties, and they're realizing, "Hey, I don't think I'm into this."  So what we're talking about, you might not like the candidate or the party, but we vote because we care about too many other things, in our community, in our nation, locally.  Our friends that are still looking for a job.  There's too many issues close to our heart that we care about.  And so we're talking to millennials on over 40 college campuses nationwide, and we're saying, "Let's vote because we care about too many other things."

GLENN:  So who does a millennial vote for?  As I watched the campaign -- I try to watch it as a millennial.  I try to watch it from four different perspectives.  And one of them is millennials.  And as I watched them, I realized this last election -- or, this last debate, that we all thought authenticity was the key word.  But it's not authenticity.  Because I believe that, in a way, Hillary Clinton is authentically who she is.  She's nobody.  She's -- she's hollow.

AUDREA:  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  And she is fake.  I think that's who she really is.  I bet you if you meet her in real life, much of what you see is who she is.

AUDREA:  Yeah.

GLENN:  Donald Trump is authentically like that.  I don't think there's a game or a face --

AUDREA:  He's himself.  Yeah.

GLENN:  He's himself.

AUDREA:  Yeah.  Yeah.

GLENN:  Okay?  

I think the word is transparent, that you would say, "This is who I am, flaws and all."

AUDREA:  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  Hillary won't say flaws.  Donald won't say flaws.

AUDREA:  Arrogance there.

GLENN:  And so we need truth.  Authenticity without truth is nothing.  Without humility, is nothing.  And as I'm watching these two, I think to myself.  They look to me like 1956.

AUDREA:  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  Millennials would have nothing to relate to with these two.  Nothing.

AUDREA:  Well, you said it.  It's truth.  Millennials are on a quest for truth.  They're trying to discover what truth is.  And so what we talk about a lot is that millennials to have discover that for themselves.  We've had a lack of education for us to even delve in and begin having those conversations.  But then we're also encouraging millennials, it's not just about these two candidates, although it represents the problems in the political system.

GLENN:  Yes.

AUDREA:  There's so many other races statewide and congressionally and locally, that millennials can have a huge impact on.  We're the largest voting bloc right now in history.  And so when we look at us sitting back and not, you know, participating, largest generation in US history.  And so millennials can have a massive impact, if we decide to do something with that power.

GLENN:  What is the response on campus?

AUDREA:  The response on campus has been good because they are -- they're encouraged that someone is not telling them who to vote for and that we're not telling them the answers and a party.  So the only voice that's been on campus is either a Republican group or a Democratic group.  And millennials are saying, "I'm not either one of those."  

And when we talk to them and say, "Look, we realize that we're not going to tell you who to vote for, you vote according to your conscience, but we're encouraging you to educate yourself and to care about these things.  And we realize that you don't like politics, I don't like politics, but we vote because too many other things are important."

GLENN:  So help me out on the churches.  I think the church has really done more damage to itself than Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker did.  Jimmy Swaggart did.  And because that one is about an individual.  This is about the institution.  Millennials -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- I hope I'm wrong.  Millennials -- at least the ones that I know -- you are a good example of it -- are, don't tell me about it.  I'm so sick of hearing about it.  Show me.

AUDREA:  Yeah.  Solutions.

GLENN:  Show me -- not just a solution.  Show me what you are doing.  I'll follow you if you are doing it and it's making a difference.  

But what's happened is, in my point of view, millennials have been going to church.  They've been listening to this.  And then they see, when the chips are down, you jettison all that and make an excuse and say, "Well, but it's different this time."  That's putting your faith in action, but in the wrong direction.  Which, if I'm a millennial, I'm sitting at church -- which, I don't want to go to on Sunday, and I go, "These people don't mean it anyway.  Why am I going there?"

AUDREA:  That's exactly right.  And it's because we're not consistent in our Biblical worldview.  So churches are picking a candidate that they like, for whatever reason --

GLENN:  Or, picking because they don't like the other one.

AUDREA:  Exactly.  But they're not consistent in explaining their Biblical worldview.  Because it's not consistent.  And they know it's not.  

And this is happening, not just nationally, but also locally.  We've seen this happen to churches locally too.  

So they need to talk about a Biblical worldview, all four years, right?  Not just every four years, every two years.  And talk about those Biblical principles and how they apply to the tough issues of our day.  When they do that, consistently, authentically, truthfully, you're right, millennials do understand it, and they want to be a part of it.  But the church hasn't done that.  And they've been hypocritical in the way they've approached elections for a long time.

GLENN:  And that is the thing that we don't -- we don't understand.  This generation is different than the proceeding four generations.

AUDREA:  Way different.  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  This is -- your generation is the hero generation.  That's the actual title.  It is the generation that is exactly like the generation that came up in the Great Depression and fought World War II.  

And so you're all about action.  You're all about togetherness.  It's why you can be swayed by a socialist message.

GLENN:  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  Because you want to do good.

AUDREA:  It's our number one goal in life.  

GLENN:  Right.  You want to do good.  You look at the world as a collective.

AUDREA:  Uh-huh.

GLENN:  And if somebody is saying those things to you, it immediately connects.

AUDREA:  Yes.

GLENN:  But if nobody is on the other side saying, "Yes, we can make a difference.  We can make things good, and we can make things better together, but we have to remember the individual, that you count."

AUDREA:  Yeah.

GLENN:  It goes awry.

AUDREA:  Absolutely.  

Millennials volunteer more than any other generation before us in the history.  We give to more charities than any other generation in history.  And we're young right now.  

So why is that?  You're right.  It's because we are the hero generation.  We want to make a difference.  And so we have to connect that to voting and help millennials understand that part of your civic responsibility and part of you making a difference, part of the way that you love and serve and care for your neighbor is -- is in the voting booth and the way that you elect your leaders and who you elect to represent you and delegate that authority to.

So it's absolutely right.  We are the hero generation.  That's what we want to be.

GLENN:  What is the number one -- if you listen to the parties, the number one thing that millennials want is free education.  Is that true?

AUDREA:  No.  I think it's a lack of education and really understanding -- millennials want everyone to have opportunity.  And they don't understand that the best thing to create opportunity is a free market system.  And it's not free handouts.  It's a system that is so prosperous that it allows for people to, you know, work their way through college and to do it themselves.  But I think for a long time, we haven't talked to millennials.  We've talked about them.  But we haven't really spoken to them.  And there's other people that have, and they've done it really well.

PAT:  Yeah, their teachers have talked to them.

AUDREA:  Yeah.

JEFFY:  Yeah.

PAT:  Their teachers have taught them that socialism is superior to capitalism.

AUDREA:  In Christian colleges.  In Christian universities.

GLENN:  Oh, I know.  

PAT:  Yes.  Yes.  

GLENN:  I've talked to people at Liberty, and I've talked to people at BYU.  

PAT:  How do we overcome that?  How do we overcome it?

GLENN:  I don't know.  I've talked to BYU and Liberty University.  And they both have said that, you know, there's -- it's tough to find a Biblical worldview person that believes in the American system of free markets.

PAT:  Yeah, they're having a tough time.

GLENN:  And get them to teach.  It's almost impossible.

AUDREA:  And there's two reasons.  The first is that they use secular textbooks that are written with communist and socialist messages.  Unbelievable.

PAT:  Right.

AUDREA:  And then they hire professors that have a really great credential but have never been trained in a Biblical worldview.  And they put them in the classroom, and they think that if they pray before class, it might magically translate into a Biblical worldview.  And we know that it doesn't.  You know, we see it.  We see it played out right now.

GLENN:  What an interesting thing to say, that if we put them in there and we just have them pray at the beginning, it will magically transform them.

AUDREA:  Maybe quote a Bible verse at the start too, you know.

GLENN:  Yeah, that will transform them.  

So are you registering people?

AUDREA:  Yeah, so what we're doing is we're working on 40 Christian college campuses across the country.  And we're realizing -- we all know this:  Twenty-five million Christians were registered in the last election, but they didn't vote.  And I'm not even talking presidential.  There are so many other important races.  

So we've created a really great system that helps millennials get to the polls.  We tell them where their polling place is.  We help them register.  Twenty-five states, you can still register.  

But a lot of these students have requested absentee ballots.  So this is a great tool, not only for college students, but also for Christians to share and make sure that people get to the polls.  

This is too important of an election for us to allow two candidates at the top of the ballot to define the rest of our decisions.

PAT:  Before we've educated them, do we want them to vote?  I mean, I have (laughter) about that frankly because, you know, like you said, they -- they tend towards socialism right now.  Because that's what they've been taught their whole lives in school.  So they --

GLENN:  I just have to echo -- I just have to echo Thomas Jefferson on trusting the people.  They'll get it wrong, but eventually they'll get it right.  We have to trust the people.

STU:  That's a different standard though than what I think many people do, which is, you know, rock the vote, or whatever.  It's like, rock the vote after you've thought about it for 15 seconds.

PAT:  Yeah.

STU:  If you thought about the issues for ten minutes in the past four years, then rock the vote.  If you haven't done that, don't rock the vote.  It's -- there's no shame --

GLENN:  Yeah, but what she's saying is that that's what their group does, is not rock the vote.

STU:  Exactly.  It's exactly what we need.  We need people -- because, I mean, we always -- we sit here and blindly encourage people to vote.  It's actually a terrible instinct.

PAT:  It is.

STU:  You should not be voting if you don't know about the issues or candidates.

AUDREA:  Yes.  And exactly what you said.  Rock the Vote does, you know, 100 campuses, right?  But they don't educate.  And so we've started with a smaller number.  We're on 40.  We're sponsoring educational events on these campuses.  And then we're feeding them a lot of messages that go in line with, what are these principles?  Why are the reasons that we should vote?  And really covering those.  Because, yeah, we want to get out the vote.

GLENN:  How can we help you get the word out?

AUDREA:  Have people go to BecauseICare.us and just check out what we're doing.  Share it with your kids, with your college students that are on a campus right now, or even with Christians maybe within the church that might think about voting but don't get out and actually do it because it's on top important for people's communities, for your local government, to sit this one out.

GLENN:  BecauseICare.us.  Remember that.  BecauseICare.us.  

I'm on my way to TCU this week.

AUDREA:  Awesome.

GLENN:  To spend an evening with the students out there, to hear where they're out at.  What should I expect?  I'm actually kind of -- I'm a little nervous.

AUDREA:  I think they're going to be really eager to have a conversation with you.  Millennials are eager to learn and learn from people that they --

GLENN:  I don't want to teach.  I want to learn from them.  I really want to learn -- and because I believe -- and I hope I'm not disappointed.  I believe millennials are more like you.

AUDREA:  They are.  They absolutely are.  They absolutely are.

GLENN:  Yeah.

AUDREA:  No, but I think you're going to have a good conversation with them, is what I'm saying.  You're going to learn from them.  They're going to learn from you.  I think you'll discover that they're not as pre-decided in their thought process as people think that our generation is.  They're really not.  They're searching for truth.

GLENN:  That's great.  Thank you so much.

AUDREA:  Thanks for having me.

GLENN:  God bless.  

Featured Image: Audrea Taylor featured Tuesday, October 18, 2016 on The Glenn Beck Program.

THESE 19 states joined Desantis' alliance against ESG. Here are their 2 main goals.

On Monday, Biden exercised his veto powers for the first time to strike down a bill that would ban states from taking ESG into consideration when investing state pension funds. In his veto message, Biden said:

Retirement plan fiduciaries should be able to consider any factor that maximizes financial returns for retirees across the country. That's not controversial — that's common sense.

At the risk of using the loaded word "gaslit," it continues to be the operative word in describing the policies coming out of the Biden White House. It is painfully obvious that ESG itself inhibits investors from "maximizing financial returns." That was never ESG's goal in the first place. Yet Biden said the opposite.

ESG aims to incentivize investors to make "socially conscious" (a.k.a woke) investments, even if they are at odds with the greatest return on investment. It has enabled state governments and investment firms to use their monopoly over the investment space to force companies to choose between adopting their woke ESG standards and losing critical investment. Isn't there a word for that? Extortion? Or modern-day politics?

ESG enables state governments to force companies to choose between adopting their woke ESG standards and losing critical investment.

That is the sole reason why Republicans brought the bill to his desk in the first place: As Glenn said, "ESG poses a clear and present danger to the American way of life, the soul of our nation and every sector of our economy. ESG was never about ROI. It was always about pushing a leftist agenda.

And Biden knows this.

Why would he want to give up something that enables his political party and corporate elites to control and manipulate the political affiliations of their people? Who would want to give up that power? Biden certainly doesn't.

And he didn't.

Instead, he boldly asserts the exact opposite: that ESG itself "maximizes financial returns," relying on the divided American people to debate the policy into oblivion, while he gets exactly what he wants: the retention of power over the American consumer. Dare I say again that "gaslit" is the operative word here?

If one thing is clear, it is that we cannot rely on the federal government to act in the best interests of the American people. However, in this critical moment, the state governments are stepping up to do what the federal government refuses to: protecting the rights of the American consumer.

In a joint resolution led by Florida Governor Ron Desantis, 19 states have pledged “to protect individuals from the ESG movement" at the state level. This is critical.

We cannot rely on the federal government to act in the best interests of the American people.

Florida leads Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming in signing the historic policy agreement among all 19 states, pledging to ban ESG practices within their jurisdictions.

The anti-ESG alliance calls ESG what it is:

A direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy.

This alliance takes aim at two specific practices used by left-leaning states to force companies to adopt ESG-approved practices.

First, the alliance promises to protect "taxpayers from ESG influences across state systems."

While other states are using YOUR taxpayer dollars to fund pro-ESG corporations, these states pledge to BAN this practice to ensure "that only financial factors are considered to maximize the return on investment."

The chief factor behind any investment should be determining whether that investment yields the maximum return on their investment. However, many states are using YOUR taxpayer-funded pension and retirement funds to invest in ESG-approved businesses. This not only forces businesses to consider adopting ESG standards in hopes of obtaining investment. Moreover, states are using YOUR taxpayer dollars to fund them! Would you want your government to invest your hard-earned money for partisan purposes?

The anti-ESG alliance is taking the politics out of investment and putting consumer power back in the hands of the American people. These state governments pledged to make investment decisions based solely on maximizing the return on investment, not in using your taxpayer dollars to fund their political agendas.

Second, the alliance promises to protect "citizens from ESG influences in the financial sector."

ESG standards force businesses to consider the political leanings of their customer base. For example, Discover announced they will begin tracking its customers' gun-related purchases. One of the leaders behind this push is Amalgamated Bank, which boasts on their website that their institution "supports sustainable organizations, progressive causes, and social justice." Amalgamated Bank CEO Priscilla Sims Brown said:

We all have to do our part to stop gun violence and it sometimes starts with illegal purchases of guns and ammunition The new code will allow us to fully comply with our duty to report suspicious activity and illegal gun sales to authorities without blocking or impeding legal gun sales.

This virtue signaling at the cost of your privacy is earning both Discover and Amalgamated ESG brownie points.

There are countless stories of Americans, like YOU, getting locked out of their bank accounts, dropped as clients, tracked and targeted, all because their personal political beliefs don't align with big corporations' ESG goals. Their individual privacy and dignity as a consumer aren't worth the risk of lowering the company's ESG score.

That's why the anti-ESG alliance is pledging to protect the residents in their states from this corrupt ESG exploitation. The alliance promised to ban "so-called social Credit Scores' in banking and lending practices aimed to prevent citizens from obtaining financial services like loans, lines of credit, and bank accounts."

They also promised to stop "financial institutions from discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs, such as owning a firearm, securing the border, or increasing our energy independence."

In short, they have targeted the political extortion hidden behind the virtuous ESG veil to protect citizens from being discriminated against based on political affiliation.

It's time to step up.

Biden may have struck down the effort to restore the freedom of the American consumer at the federal level. However, these states are taking it upon themselves to do what they ought: to ban practices that threaten the freedoms and privacy of their citizens.

If your state did not joining the anti-ESG alliance, it's time to demand that they step up and do their job to protect you and the rest of your fellow citizens from corrupt ESG practices. As Glenn said, "The conservative movement is best when it moves in unison." We must act and unison and push our states to protect our economic freedom and our way of life.

Are YOU prepared? Download Glenn's ULTIMATE preparation guide!

How prepared are YOU to weather a future crisis? We recently published a brand new quiz so you can find out exactly how prepared you are. Whether you're a "prepper" with a bunker fit for the apocolypse or just want to feel more secure for the future, there is always something more to learn. That's why Glenn wants to give his newsletter subscribers his "Ultimate Preparation Guide," filled with practical tips for building a solid foundation to weather future crises. And let's face it—in our crazy world right now, who couldn't use a bit more peace of mind?

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THESE 12 Republican states are smuggling digital currency through THIS sneaky bill

Dem10 | Getty Images

Editor's Note: Arizona House Bill HB2770 has since been shut down! AZ Rep. Rachel Jones tweeted that the AZ Freedom Caucus shut down the bill before it could reach the board. It is encouraging to see states stepping to protect the American people from getting one step closer to a Central Bank Digital Currency. Hopefully, Arizona will be a precedent for the other states!

On today's radio broadcast, Glenn warned about dangerous Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) language being smuggled into routine legislation in REPUBLICAN-led states. This is unacceptable, and as Glenn said, we can't let this legislation pass as it now stands.

The legislation being used to smuggle in this CBDC language is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a routine piece of legislation passed on the state level that helps standardize commercial and business transactions. However, a new round of UCCs being deliberated RIGHT NOW amongst a swath of Republican-led states anticipate the use of "electronic money." In a public letter sent to the Republican states currently deliberating this legislation, the Pro-Family Legislative Network said this can only refer to the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) under consideration and testing by the Federal Reserve. Biden's Executive Order 14067 issued in March of 2022 started the push for CBDC, and now these states, knowingly or unknowingly, are laying the legislative groundwork for making CBDC a reality.

There is absolutely no reason why Republican-led states should aid in laying the foundation for CBDC, yet 12 of them are deliberating it RIGHT NOW, with one UCC bill already on one GOP governor's desk! We have to act NOW to stop these UCCs in their tracks and demand our lawmakers amend the bills without the "electronic money" language.

If your state is listed below, contact your representative NOW to put an end to CBDC language.

1. North Dakota

North Dakota House Bill HB1082 passed BOTH chambers and is now sitting on Governor Burgum's desk. Burgun has 3 DAYS to veto this bill once it's placed on his desk—if not, it will pass automatically. If you are a North Dakota resident, it is absolutely CRUCIAL that you contact Governor Burgum's office NOW and demand that he veto this bill and re-introduce it without the "electronic money" language.

2. Arizona

Arizona House Bill HB2770 has been SHUT DOWN! See the above editor's note for more details.

Arizona House Bill HB2770 passed the House majority and minority caucuses. Arizona residents, contact your representative's office NOW so that they amend this bill without the "electronic money" language.

3. Arkansas

Arkansas House Bill HB1588 is in committee, and if passed, will head to the House floor. Though the bill is only in its beginning stages, it's important for Arkansas residents to stop this bill in its tracks and amend it without the "electronic money" language.

4. Missouri

Missouri House Bill HB1165 is also in its beginning stages in committee. That means it's important to contact your representative as soon as possible to amend it without the "electronic money" language.

5. Oklahoma

Oklahoma House Bill HB 2776 passed the House Committee and will go to a chamber vote soon. If passed, it will go to the Senate, then the governor's desk. If you are an Indiana resident, contact your representative's office NOW to amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

6. Indiana

Indiana Senate Bill SB0486 passed the Senate and is headed to the House. Republicans control Indiana's executive office and BOTH chambers of the legislature. There is no excuse for this bill to pass. If you are an Indiana resident, it's vital you contact your representative NOW and demand they amend this bill without the "electronic money" language.

7. Kentucky

Kentucky Senate Bill SB64 passed the Senate and is now being deliberated in the House. If you live in Kentucky, contact your representative's office to amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

8. Montana

Montana Senate Bill SB370 passed the Senate and was sent to the House on March 3rd. If you are a Montana resident, contact your representative's office NOW so that the bill doesn't without changing the "electronic money" language.

9. Nebraska

Nebraska's Legislative Bill LB94 passed committee and the first floor vote. As Nebraska only has one legislative chamber, this bill is dangerously close to passing the legislature and being sent to the governor's desk. If you are a Nebraska resident, contact your representative's office NOW and demand they amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

10. New Hampshire

New Hampshire House Bill HB584 is currently in House committee deliberations and has not yet reached the House floor. If you are a New Hampshire resident, contact your representative's office NOW to amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

11. Tennessee

Tennessee House Bill HB0640 didn't successfully pass the House. However, it was deferred to a Senate committee and has now taken the form of Senate Bill SB0479, which is now in committee. This bill is still alive, and it's important for you, Tennessee residents, to stop it before it reaches the floor! Contact your representative to amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

12. Texas

Texas House Bill HB5011 was filed and is ready to be taken up by committee. Fellow Texans, let's not let this bill progress any further! Contact your representative and demand they amend the bill without the "electronic money" language.

6 things you NEED to know about the Silicon Valley Bank collapse

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Silicon Valley Bank's collapse is sparking traumatic memories of the 2008 financial crash. Should we be worried SVB is signaling a similar economic catastrophe, or is everyone overreacting to the media's hype? Glenn told his listeners to be "healthily terrified." This event is sure to have ripple effects throughout the economy, but the more you are informed about it, the more you can prepare. Here are 6 things you need to know about Silicon Valley Bank's crash—explained in simple words.

1. The short answer to what happened: SVB didn't have enough money to pay its depositors.

Remember the scene from It's a Wonderful Life when all of the residents make a run on George Bailey's bank demanding their money? Fortunately for them, their money was in the altruistic hands of George Bailey, who used his honeymoon savings to give the depositors the money they demanded.

Silicon Valley Bank's depositors weren't so lucky.

In short, the depositors made a run on Silicon Valley Bank, demanding the withdrawal of their money. But SVB simply didn't have the liquid money available to give their depositors, causing regulators to shut down the bank shortly afterward.

2. It all started with COVID...

Why didn't SVB have enough money for its depositors? To explain this, we have to go back to the pandemic era.

The pandemic saw a rapid decrease in spending and a massive increase in bank deposits. Due to the uncertainty of the future and lockdowns limiting ways to spend money on recreational activities, like restaurants, bars, and other outlets, many Americans stocked up money in their accounts. In fact, SVB's deposits doubled in 2021 alone, bringing in more money than they could lend out to their clients.

To make a return on their available cash, SVB wanted to invest it, as many banks do. Since they had reached their lending limit, they decided to invest it in U.S. Treasury Securities, which are the government's means of funding itself without using taxation (in a nutshell). These are considered "ultra-safe" investments because they are backed by the "full faith and credit of the federal government."

Unlike other forms of investments, investing in Treasuries means the government will do everything within its legal power to pay back the money used to fund itself. In other words, it is typically very safe... so what happened?

3. Then came the magic cocktail—record-high inflation and rising interest rates...

Interest rates ruined the typically "ultra-safe" investment. Due to 40-year record-high inflation, the Fed lifted rates eight times by a total of 4.25 percentage points in 2022, raising interest rates from 0.25 percent to 4.375 percent. This means the value of U.S. Treasuries investments plummeted rapidly. SVB reported that it lost $1.8 billion due to the decreased value of its Treasuries investments after a year of rising interest rates.

This raises the following question: why didn't SVB just weather the storm and wait for interest rates to decrease? There are two issues with this. The first is that, with so many of their assets held up in Treasuries investments, SVB still wouldn't have enough liquid assets to give their depositors during the bank run.

The second issue is that Treasuries investments have a ten-year limit. In 2021 during the Trump administration, interest rates were at an all-time low of 0.125 percent.

The record-fast increase of interest rates in 2022 caused very little chance for rates to go back down to their historic 2021 lows within ten years for banks to make their money back on their investments.

To avoid this, SVB planned to sell their investments at a loss and re-purchase Treasuries investments at the decreased value, giving them an extra ten years to bet on decreased interest rates in the future.

But people caught on to SVB's plan and didn't want to ride with the risk.

4. Account holders withdrew their money... FAST.

As aforementioned, SVP lost $1.8 billion when it sold its depleted Treasuries investments. While they were betting on being able to re-purchase the devalued securities, hoping that they would go up in value in the future with lowered interest rates, investors were worried about the risk.

Once they made the announcement of their $1.8 billion loss, their stocks began to drop, and venture capitalists warned the companies they invest in to pull out of SVB. This had a snowball effect, leading to a "bank run" of depositors demanding to withdraw their money from their SVB accounts.

This led to the perfect storm: SVB's investment losses coupled with the influx of withdrawals were so immense that regulators had to step in and shut the bank down to protect depositors. The government currently "running" SVB, for all practical purposes, is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC closed SVB on Friday and reopened the bank on Monday, March 13th as the Deposit Insurance Bank of Santa Clara.

5. Some people may lose their money. 

Banks insure accounts with $250,000 or less with FDIC insurance. That means, in cases of bank failure, exactly like this one, the FDIC covers all accounts less than $250,000. The FDIC said SVB customers who had less than $250,000 in their accounts will have access to all of their money when the bank reopens. Since it reopened this week, they should have access to their funds.

However, many of SVB's depositors had more than $250,000 in their accounts—it is Silicon Valley after all. Therefore, their accounts were not covered by FDIC insurance. Will they get their money back? There is a chance that they will not.

It is unclear how much SVB currently has to cover uninsured deposits. It is likely not enough. The FDIC has issued a "Receiver's Certificate" to the uninsured account holders with the amount in their account that is not covered by FDIC insurance.

The FDIC said it will pay some of the uninsured deposits by next week by liquidating any additional assets held by SVB. However, if the liquidated assets are not enough, many of SVB's uninsured account holders could lose their money for good.

6. Is this 2008 all over again?

SVB's collapse was the largest bank failure since 2008, when Washington Mutual failed with $307 billion in assets. Its failure, along with the collapse of the Lehman Brother's investment bank, triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Are we in danger of repeating 2008?

Some argue that we are not in danger of another economic catastrophe, simply because SVB holds less than 1 percent of the nation's assets. However, as Glenn warns, there is a danger of banks repeating the same mistakes as SVP.

SVP wasn't the only bank to use its surplus deposits to invest in U.S. Treasuries, which means that other banks are wrestling with the depleted value of their securities investments due to rising interest rates.

Bank of America, for example, lost $109 billion in their securities investments due to rising interest rates, the most among its peers—and Bank of America is no small fish in the ocean of assets.

Other major banks recorded other massive losses in their securities investments due to rising interest rates. JP Morgan Chase lost $36 billion, Wells Fargo lost $41 billion, Citigroup lost $25 billion, and Goldman Sachs lost $1 billion. If the little banks collapse, will they get the same effort and attention from the federal government as the "big guys?"

The critic may argue that these are still small values given the incredibly large amount of assets held in banks nationwide. However, this is missing the point. Major banks have majorly invested in securities since the pandemic-era skyrocketing rate of deposits. Now those investments are depleted in value.

They can either sell those investments at a loss, or they can wait and hope that they will recover over time. However, if those investments are no longer liquid, what happens when their depositors come knocking? Will they have enough liquid assets to cover a massive bank run? These are the lingering questions that our banks need to address.

As Glenn says, this will impact you—it is only a matter of time. What will you do to prepare?