Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday testified before the House that the government is ready to step in with more help for bank depositors if necessary
"We have used important tools to act quickly to prevent contagion," she said. "And they are tools we could use again. The strong actions we have taken ensure that Americans’ deposits are safe. Certainly, we would be prepared to take additional actions if warranted."
The secretary also stressed that the cost of these interventions is not being borne by taxpayers but rather from the Deposit Insurance Fund, which is funded by bank fees.
The government is willing to support uninsured depositors as well, according to testimony from Yellen last week. She said those deposits would also be covered in the event that a “failure to protect uninsured depositors would create systemic risk and significant economic and financial consequences."
Yellen's public comments come as the banking sector continues to fuel uncertainty across the economy.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
