I just posted this on mastodon but I think maybe the community here knows better:
If you ran a bank that required insurance on all deposits over the $250k FDIC coverage, and then offered 3rd-party insurance as a convenience for those who wanted it... your bank would be much less likely to suffer a blow up due to a bank run and therefore that insurance should be relatively cheap.
Furthermore, people should prefer to bank someplace where all of the depositors are covered. Why is this not commonplace? Simply because the additional fee discourages it?
I think if Yellen announced this as a requirement it would remove that incentive to treat FDIC like free unlimited insurance.
Which apartment block do you thing a most people would rather live in, the one that charges you an extra 10 percent a year but promises to replace all your belongings if it ever burns down, or one that tells you it will never burn down?
If you ran a bank that required insurance on all deposits over the $250k FDIC coverage, and then offered 3rd-party insurance as a convenience for those who wanted it... your bank would be much less likely to suffer a blow up due to a bank run and therefore that insurance should be relatively cheap.
Furthermore, people should prefer to bank someplace where all of the depositors are covered. Why is this not commonplace? Simply because the additional fee discourages it?
I think if Yellen announced this as a requirement it would remove that incentive to treat FDIC like free unlimited insurance.