A US financial catastrophe is predicted by economists.

Stephanie Pomboy, the US economist known for her predictions of America's early 2000s housing bubble and the 2008 global financial collapse, has warned that a recent spate of bank and cryptocurrency failures portends trouble. She made her assessment in the wake of the shutdown of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the second-largest failure in US banking history. President Joe Biden's administration has responded by trying to allay concerns over a broader crisis, but Pomboy was unconvinced, mocking Yellen for an "absolutely insane" focus on "diversity, equity and inclusion" at a time when rapid increases in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve are exposing the fragility of the nation's debt-laden financial system. She added that years of excessive risk-taking are "coming back to bite them hard" and predicted that the situation will "devolve very rapidly". Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy argued that just as in the 2008 financial crisis, SVB's failure may have been fueled by politics.