Changes

Also on Sept. 25, Washington Mutual, the 6th largest bank in the US with $310 billion in assets, went [[bankrupt]] after a run in which depositors withdrew $17 billion in a few days. Its stockholders lost all their money, the US government took it over (through the [[FDIC]], which insures ordinary bank deposits), and resold it the same day to the biggest New York bank, JPMorgan Chase. It was the largest commercial bank failure in American history, by far. Meanwhile the #4 U.S. bank, Wachovia, was in desperate condition, burdened with some $120 billion in toxic securities.<ref>In the [[Great Depression]], no major banks failed in any major cities, although over 6000 small neighborhood and rural banks went under; depositors eventually received on average 85% of their deposits.</ref>

Also on Sept. 25, Washington Mutual, the 6th largest bank in the US with $310 billion in assets, went [[bankrupt]] after a run in which depositors withdrew $17 billion in a few days. Its stockholders lost all their money, the US government took it over (through the [[FDIC]], which insures ordinary bank deposits), and resold it the same day to the biggest New York bank, JPMorgan Chase. It was the largest commercial bank failure in American history, by far. Meanwhile the #4 U.S. bank, Wachovia, was in desperate condition, burdened with some $120 billion in toxic securities.<ref>In the [[Great Depression]], no major banks failed in any major cities, although over 6000 small neighborhood and rural banks went under; depositors eventually received on average 85% of their deposits.</ref>

==See also==

==See also==