I have long thought how I would comment on this most ridiculous notion that the banks are actually being tested for their ability to ride out a worst-case economic scenario. (The government’s official wording for the stress test is to determine “if the largest U.S. banking organizations have sufficient capital buffers to withstand the impact of an economic environment that is more challenging than is currently anticipated.”) But these “stress tests” are just more government propaganda aimed at persuading the public that the financial system is sound and their money is not at risk. When it comes to describing the stress tests, Peter Schiff has said it best: “These stress tests are a joke. They were reverse engineered. There’s no stress. It’s like letting a bunch of gerbils run on a bridge and then say, aha, the bridge is sound. There is no stress to these tests.”

The Best of Karen De Coster