Another Bank Bites the Dust

Once again, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shut down a bank late Friday afternoon, meaning that news was mostly missed until today. It’s Alpharatta, Ga.-based Alpha Bank and Trust, a small community banking outfit, Housing Wire reports. It’s the 16th bank failure so far this year.

The reality that banks are closing down — and the fear of more failures ahead — must be seeping into the popular culture. Today I told my 8-year-old daughter that we would set up a bank account this week for her allowance. She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, “But what if the bank fails?”

Apparently the talk of the third grade is that there’s another Great Depression on the way.

I guess an additional challenge for parents facing shrinking retirement and college savings accounts is finding a coherent way to explain the global financial crisis to children.