Just the Facts: Dollars and Sense

Contributed by Olga Vanucci.

Just the Facts

• In 1984 there were 14,400 banks in the U.S.  In 2018, there are 4,800.
• The banking industry got a boost from the Republican tax law, with the corporate tax rate falling from 35% to 21%.  Bank of America’s bill to Uncle Sam in the first quarter of 2018 plunged by 26%, even though the No. 2 US bank earned 30% more.
• The tax law boosted bank profits by about $6.7 billion for the first quarter of 2018.  Yet banks would still have made record profits of $49.4 billion without the tax cuts.
• Bank of America is worth $293,600,000,000.  
• The median net worth of Americans is $68,800, including home equity. The median net worth excluding home equity is $16,900.

Sources:  https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USNUM  https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/18/investing/big-banks-earnings-record-profits/index.html?iid=EL   https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/investing/banks-record-profits-fdic-deregulation-bill/index.html    https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-average-net-worth-of-americans-at-every-age-2017-6  https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/bac/?p=bac