The Very Hungry Bank

with appreciation for Eric Carle’s caterpillar

One sunny morning before Dewey Square
was financial, there appeared - pop! –
a tiny and very hungry bank.

In 1991, BayBank acquired Harvard Trust
but the bank was still hungry

In 1996, BankBoston acquired BayBank
but the bank was still hungry.

In 1999, FleetBank acquired BankBoston
but the bank was still hungry.

In 2004, Bank of America (itself acquired
by NationsBank) acquired FleetBank
but the bank was still hungry.

In the next years, the bank acquired one
MBNA, one Banco Itau, one US Trust, one
LaSalle Bank, one Countrywide and one
Merrill Lynch.

That year the bank had a stomach ache. Now
it wasn't a tiny little bank any more. It was a big
fat bank. It built a forty-five billion dollar safety net

called a TARP around itself, and stayed inside for a number
of months. Then it nibbled a hole in the TARP, and pushed
its way out. Alas, it was not a beautiful butterfly.