Definitely “too big to fail”

Mark B. sent me a terrifying  infographic describing 9 banks’ derivative exposure:

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/derivatives/bank_exposure.html

The graphic starts with a single $100 bill:

Then the graphic visually describes the amount of cash necessary to cover different banks’ hedges:

I cut off the top of the image so that you won’t panic when you see how high this at-risk money is piled.  Just a reminder: speak to your independent financial professional before withdrawing all your money from the bank and putting it into your mattress.

(BTW, this is a great infographic, but it’s not part of the contest because it’s not original. Sorry, Mark.)