That Sunday night, on the eve of the end of the bank holiday, Roosevelt spoke to a radio audience of more than 60 million people. He told them in clear language “what has been done in the last few days, why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be.” The result was a remarkable turnaround in the public’s confidence.
Since this, almost iconic, banking crisis of 1933, we have seen financial crises in all shapes and sizes throughout the world. And now, the Covid crisis poses yet a new challenge to the financial system. How has the financial system stood up to this latest test? And what can we learn from it for the future?