Restoring banking's safety net: deposit insurance's steeper cost

A recession now in its 21st month has presented tremendous challenges to the deposit insurance system. Actual and expected bank failures have left the Deposit Insurance Fund below its mandated level. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has responded by raising the premiums banks pay. Premiums will rise for banks in the Dallas-based Eleventh Federal Reserve District--but not by as much as they will for banks in the rest of the country. This additional cost is an important consideration because every dollar spent on insurance is a dollar that can't be lent or otherwise invested.Deposit insurance ; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ; Bank failures

District banks' exposure to modified loans limited

Banks in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District are performing better than their peers. However, signs of strain are still evident following the recession and financial market crisis. Some banks that restructure troubled loans by granting borrowers easier terms subsequently find the loans delinquent again. ; While the number of restructured loans has grown dramatically, these loans remain a small part of the average bank's balance sheet, a review of district data shows. Lenders here are less likely to carry restructured loans than banks around the country, and when they do hold such assets, problems don't appear to be out of line with historical tendencies. These findings indicate that the current experience with loan restructurings in the district is less a cause for alarm and more a helpful response to some borrowers' difficulties.Federal Reserve District, 11th ; Banks and banking ; Mortgage loans

Is Texas overbanked?

Texans taking to the roads are almost guaranteed to come across three things: a place to eat, a place to buy gas and a place to bank. Seemingly ubiquitous in the modern Texas landscape, banks are both a source and a sign of the state's robust economy. In small towns and large cities, community banks compete for business with each other, with savings banks and credit unions and with the largest commercial banks in the world. ; Banks competing to offer the best service at the best price is essential to the health of local economies. With too little competition, monopoly characteristics can creep into banking markets, driving up costs for consumers. On the other hand, too many banks in a market may mean some institutions don't have enough business to support their overhead, making them less efficient. ; So where do Texas banks and banking markets fall on this spectrum? A good way to answer that question is to compare the availability of banking services in Texas with availability in other parts of the country. ; Bankers sometimes worry Texas is overbanked. The concept is somewhat subjective, so finding a conclusive empirical answer can be problematic. However, data show that Texas ranks among the relatively less banked states, based on several measures, although it generally has greater banking services availability than California, a similarly sized state. The same conclusion holds when Texas metropolitan areas are compared with like-sized regions in other states.Banks and banking - Texas ; Competition

MMTF Discovery of Giant Ionization Cones in MR 2251-178: Implications for Quasar Radiative Feedback

We report the discovery of giant ionization cones in the 140-kpc nebula around quasar MR 2251-178 based on deep [O III] 5007/H-beta and [N II] 6583/H-alpha flux ratio maps obtained with the Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter (MMTF) on the Baade-Magellan 6.5m telescope. These cones are aligned with the weak double-lobed radio source observed on smaller scale <30 kpc). They have an opening angle ~120deg +/- 10deg and subtend ~65-90% of 4pi steradians, where the large uncertainty takes into account possible projection effects. The material in the outer ionization cones is matter-bounded, indicating that all ionizing photons emitted through the cones escape from the system. The quasar ionizing flux is ~2-3 times fainter outside of these cones, despite the largely symmetric geometry of the nebula in [O III]. Overall, adding up the contributions from both inside and outside the cones, we find that ~65-95% of the quasar ionizing radiation makes its way out of the system. These results emphasize the need for line ratio maps to quantify the escape fraction of ionizing radiation from quasars and the importance of quasar radiative feedback on the intergalactic medium.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The First Great Awakening: Revival and the Birth of a Nation

The First Great Awakening left an indelible mark on the development of America. With roots stretching back to the Christian Reformation of the 1500’s, the Great Awakening swept the young colonies with the fires of evangelical fervor. The revival shook the very foundations of colonial society. Following in its wake was a rebirth of reformed philosophy and theology that planted the seeds of self-government and political autonomy in the fertile soil of the Americas. By 1776, that seed had blossomed into a vibrant revolutionary movement that questioned the very fabric of Old World society. This article explores the rich Christian heritage of our nation by looking at the movement the inspired the American Revolution; the First Great Awakening. It explores at its theological foundations and its philosophical and social repercussions on the birth of the nation. Furthermore, this article examines the distinctly reformed character of the Awakening and the influence this had on the Founding generation

On the Values of Words

Mary Norris\u27 Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen and Kory Stamper\u27s Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries use observations about language as a touchstone for a nuanced examination of deeper truths about language, culture, and law in a changing world. In so doing, they point to deeper truths about the use of language and its consequences. Law students, lawyers, and law professors will benefit from journeying with Norris and Stamper towards the goal of crafting prose that is clear, accurate, and inclusive. In particular, the legal community will benefit from the books\u27 efforts to define consistent, binding linguistic rules and the books\u27 reflections on the consequences of language as a medium for conveying law