Vital Signs
of Democracy
Narratives in Progress
Preview of stories in play for the next Narrative Analysis scan
We run our Narrative Threat Analysis scans every two weeks. The ratings of those scans represent the narrative themes in play during the two week period that just concluded. However, during the two week period that is unfolding there are stories starting to emerge that have not yet completely come into focus in terms of their threat level to democracy in America. We preview these stories here because they are emerging narratives that could impact our NEXT Narrative Threat Analysis ratings.
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Is my money safe? What you need to know about bank failure
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Biden admin tells TikTok's Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the app or face a possible U.S. ban
Is my money safe? What you need to know about bank failures
The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which catered mostly to the tech industry, may have you worried about your money. They were the second- and third-biggest bank failures in U.S. history.
It all started last week when too many depositors tried to withdraw their money from Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. That’s known as a bank run.
The bank had to sell treasury bonds and other securities at a steep loss and more people kept trying to withdraw money as word of the situation spread, causing the bank to fail. Regulators took control of New York-based Signature Bank soon after, saying it was necessary to protect depositors after too many people withdrew money.
In response, regulators guaranteed all deposits at the two banks and created a program to help shield other banks to shield them from a run on deposits.
What we are watching as this story continues to unfold is... who's deposits are being re-paid. The failure of the first two banks meant all depositors, including million dollar henge funds, were re-paid for the full amount of their deposits, not just the $250,000 that was covered by the FDIC. Will that be true if other banks fail? And will shareholder of these banks also get repaid like they did in the 2008 crisis?
The Biden administration is threatening a potential ban on TikTok in the United States if the video sharing app's Chinese owners refuse to sell their stakes in it, a source close to the company told NBC News on Thursday.
The source, however, cautioned that the company did not see the administration's move as a final order. Talks between TikTok and U.S. government officials have been going on for years.
The administration’s demand, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, signals a significant shift in the U.S. stance toward Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., which owns the popular app.
The White House and the Treasury Department declined to comment.
What we are watching as this story continues to unfold is... will it be revealed that the US operation of Tik Tok WAS sharing captured US data with their Chinese Government controlled parent company in spite of what they claimed. Given the current talk in Congress and the White House about regulating social media platforms in an attempt to reduce the amount of disinformation published on these platforms, will ANY reforms actually take place.