1. Banking-sector turmoilraises the odds that the U.S. economy and has been already widely seen as prone to recession. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank will likely ripple through the mortgage market to commercial landlords. Check the article The Banking Crisis: A Timeline of Silicon Valley Bank's Collapse and Other Key Events on WSJ. Watch the video in the article about recent banking industry turmoil. What are the major reasons for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank? What is a Bank Run and why it might happen? What are the functions of the FDIC? Do you think the depositors from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank suffered a loss from the bank failures?

2. What is Too Big to Fail? Do you believe the current banking industry turmoil will lead the U.S. economy into another round of recession? Should the Fed bail out the big banks like the Silicon Valley Bank? What are the pros and cons if the government chooses to do so?

3. Check the FDIC Failed Bank List. How many banks failed this year in 2023? How about 2019? 2014? and 2008? What did you find about the changes in numbers of bank failures. Should we really worry about the bank failures in 2023?