Question

A "Narrow bank" is a bank that only holds cash for its depositors -- specifically, in our example from class, a narrow bank would take the 1000 deposits of $1,000 each and simply deposit $1,000,000 in its Federal Reserve account. 1. Would this kind of bank be immune to bank runs and financial crises? 2. Why or why not?

Answer 1

Answer:

Theoretically, the bank should be immune to bank runs and financial crises. A narrow bank just receivers deposits and manages them. It does not borrow money, so the deposits should be safe and available when required by the customers. The problem with this type of banks is that the only way they can make a profit is by charging depositors a fee instead of paying interest rates.

Explanation: