“You can take that to the bank,” no longer offers the same certainties these days. Can we? Should we? Rising inflation, creeping interest rates, and now bank failures? For those who endured the Great Recession of 2008, these recent events cause all sorts of economic anxiety. Many are thinking, “Will my retirement money be there when I need it?” Others are wondering whether “too big to fail” means something else this time.
On March 23, 2023, FOLCS was joined by Sheila Bair, former Chair of the FDIC from 2006 to 2011. Time Magazine named her the “little guy’s protector in chief.” Having been a key player in navigating our country through the 2008 financial crisis, very few are better suited to answer the big economic questions on our minds, and make sense of what happened.
Watch FOLCS Headlines: Bank Runs and Bailouts with Sheila Bair, Former FDIC Chair here.
Sheila Bair
FDIC Former Chair, Author
Sheila Bair has had a long and distinguished career in government, academia and finance. Twice named by Forbes Magazine as the second most powerful woman in the world, she is perhaps best known as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 2006 to 2011, when she steered the agency through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. For her efforts to protect bank depositors and homeowners during the crisis, she received the Kennedy Library’s Profiles In Courage Award, and was named the “little guy’s protector in chief” by Time Magazine.
A former finance professor and college president, Ms. Bair has been nationally recognized for her innovative initiatives to make college more accessible and affordable. She is a frequent commentator and op-ed contributor on financial regulation and the student debt crisis, as well as author of the NY Times Best Seller, Bull by the Horns, her 2012 memoir of the financial crisis. She is also author of Albert Whitman’s Money Tales series for young people.
Ms. Bair currently serves on a number of corporate governing boards, including Fannie Mae as the first woman Chair; Bunge Ltd, as Deputy Chair and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee; and Lion Electric. She is also a member of the International Advisory Board to the Santander Group, serves on the board of Paxos, a blockchain technology trust company, and as an advisor to several fintech startups. She is a founding director of the Volcker Alliance, established by Former Federal Reserve Board Chair Paul Volcker to build trust in government and is the founding chair of the Systemic Risk Council, which advocates for financial stability. She is also a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security and serves as a Senior Advisor to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation on financial issues confronting young people.