By 2019, the five largest banks22 in the United States controlled 46 percent of all bank deposits, up from only 12 percent two decades earlier. Investors understood that these institutions were Too Big to Fail, meaning systemically important enough that the government would always come running to save them. This allowed them to borrow at cheaper rates, boosting their profitability, lifting share prices, and putting money in the pockets of Davos Men like Jamie Dimon.
