← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hugh Lincoln
Thread ID: 9090 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-08-16
2003-08-16 18:56 | User Profile
A thought occurred to me during the blackout.
Nobody could get to their bank accounts: the banks all run on computers, as do ATMs, etc. OK. That thought led to this thought: of all the "money" in the U.S. system, less than 10 percent is represented by paper currency or metal coin.
The rest is "in the account." For the modern bank, that means, I guess, a microscopic etching in a silicone chip of a big computer somewhere. Should harm befall that chip, or should electricity go down in a big way, who's to say whether you had 8 grand in the bank or 800 grand?
Anyone on the board know how banks would deal with this? Or stock holding outfits? Or the federal government? Are there tangible backups somewhere? Of course, if the system falls, money value could fluctuate wildly anyway --- I'm just wondering about the technicals here.
I'm not a monetary system/Federal Reserve conspiracy theorist, but you gotta wonder...
2003-08-16 19:27 | User Profile
Money is in banks' databases. That get backed up on tape. Also, there is redundancy, and power generators providing power to computers.
2003-08-16 19:45 | User Profile
Originally posted by Hugh Lincoln@Aug 16 2003, 12:56 * ...Should harm befall that chip, or should electricity go down in a big way, who's to say whether you had 8 grand in the bank or 800 grand? Anyone on the board know how banks would deal with this?*
Your immediate past account statement is a legal document, binding on the bank, should you have to sue.
2003-08-18 13:15 | User Profile
I see. Still, a more permanent power outage could present serious money problems.