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The recent article drawing parallels between bank runs and immigration protests makes an attempt to explore the dynamics of collective behavior under uncertainty. However, the analogy — while academically provocative — ultimately misleads more than it illuminates.
Bank runs are driven by fear and self-interest. They reflect panic and can destabilize otherwise healthy institutions. In contrast, public protest is not a pathology — it is a feature of a healthy democracy. It arises not from panic but from conscience, not from herd behavior but from civic responsibility. Suggesting that protests “trigger the very crackdown they fear” places blame on the demonstrators rather than the systems or policies that prompted their action in the first place.
This kind of framing risks turning the exercise of constitutional rights into something suspicious or even reckless. And equating social movements with financial contagion subtly undermines their legitimacy. Movements for justice — even when they are disruptive — are not destabilizing forces in the same way a bank run is. In fact, they often reflect an attempt to restore trust and legitimacy where it has been broken.
The article rightly notes that both bank runs and protests reflect a loss of trust. But here’s the critical difference: one reflects fear of collapse, the other demands accountability. That’s not a difference of degree — it’s a difference of principle.
Very well said John P. Alarmed reading this thought exercise. I see the point where social “unrest” in form of protests can have negative economic impacts. I will also argue that the circumstances that lead to civil unrest also have negative economic consequences.
Thank you ChatGPT.