San Fran Fed Didn’t Know About SVB’s Problems, But Likely Knew ‘Their Carbon Footprint’

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “First Move,” Harvard University Economics Professor and former Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund Ken Rogoff wondered how the San Francisco Federal Reserve didn’t know about the problems inside Silicon Valley Bank and remarked that “I’m sure that the San Francisco Fed knew a lot of things about Silicon Valley Bank, probably their carbon footprint.”

Rogoff said that it isn’t just him who has questions about the San Francisco Fed’s handling of SVB, “everyone does.”

He continued, “So, how can it be that — I’m sure that the San Francisco Fed knew a lot of things about Silicon Valley Bank, probably their carbon footprint. But why didn’t they know what was going on with this? It’s just surprising. And then, when it unfolded, they weren’t technically insolvent right away. So, why didn’t they give them liquidity right away and nip it in the bud? It’s hard to know. These things move so fast and there are so many political pressures. It’s hard to know. Again, it hasn’t happened everywhere, so, it’s so hard to supervise this big banking sector. But this was an important bank, it very much will be missed.”