--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should ban banks from risk-taking…" description: "\"We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is going to pay the price.\" — Nassim Nicholas Taleb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png" --- # We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is… ![“We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is going to pay the price.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png) > “We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is going to pay the price.” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates banning risky banking practices to protect society from fallout. **In simple terms:** Banks should be restricted from risky behavior. Key Takeaway Support stricter banking oversight. Themes risk management financial stability public policy Mood cautionary analytical Type opinion policy When to use this quote - policy debates - investment decisions - financial education - advocacy campaigns Key Concepts systemic risk regulatory reform Questions to Reflect On - What are the trade‑offs of stricter banking rules? - How can we balance risk and growth? A Different Perspective Implementation could limit innovation and credit availability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banks/) [Pay the price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-the-price/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Risk taking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk-taking/) ## Related quotes > [The banks, because of mismanagement, because of huge risk taking, are now in very vulnerable positions. We can expect that we're gonna have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-banks-because-of-mismanagement-because-of-huge-risk-taking-are/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Bankers, they're not harmed by their mistakes. They benefit when things go right, and the society pays the price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/bankers-they-re-not-harmed-by-their-mistakes-they-benefit-when-things/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Banks have never made money in the history of banking, losing the equivalent of all their past profits periodically - while bankers strike it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/banks-have-never-made-money-in-the-history-of-banking-losing-the/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [I've been telling anyone willing to listen that banks have a tendency to sit on time bombs while convincing themselves that they are conservative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/i-ve-been-telling-anyone-willing-to-listen-that-banks-have-a-tendency/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Many people keep deploring the low level of formal education in the United states (as defined by, say, math grades). Yet these fail to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/many-people-keep-deploring-the-low-level-of-formal-education-in-the/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“In a textbook case of naive empiricism, the author also looked for traits these millionaires had in common and figured out that they shared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-a-textbook-case-of-naive-empiricism-the-author-also-looked-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [It is cruel for you to leave your daughter, so full of hopeand resolve, to suffer the humiliations of disfranchisement she already feels so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/it-is-cruel-for-you-to-leave-your-daughter-so-full-of-hopeand-resolve/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [My argument is focused on the fact that a relatively small percentage of the world's Muslim countries are impacted by this order. Stated differently,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-rivkin/my-argument-is-focused-on-the-fact-that-a-relatively-small-percentage/) [David B. Rivkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-rivkin/) > [In every state of the Union, Fundamentalists still fight to ban all the science they dislike and prosecute all who teach it. To them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/in-every-state-of-the-union-fundamentalists-still-fight-to-ban-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The American people intuitively understand this, which is why the majority of Catholics practice birth control and some of those opposed to gay marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-american-people-intuitively-understand-this-which-is-why-the/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Art penetrates, no matter how many bans you put out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mawra-hocane/art-penetrates-no-matter-how-many-bans-you-put-out/) [Mawra Hocane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mawra-hocane/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o-man-why-dost-thou-ever-flee/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [ Ben Carson also denounced \[Donald\] Trump's ban all Muslims proposal saying we do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/ben-carson-also-denounced-donald-trump-s-ban-all-muslims-proposal/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“One needs to go out and buy a lottery ticket in order to win. Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Explore all 635 Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More Banks quotes > [What we prefer to do is operate our investment bank in a way that is like what investment banks used to be, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-stephens/what-we-prefer-to-do-is-operate-our-investment-bank-in-a-way-that-is/) [Warren Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-stephens/) > [We now have power under the Dodd-Frank legislation to break up banks. And I've said I will use that power if they pose a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-now-have-power-under-the-dodd-frank-legislation-to-break-up-banks/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“Ever notice how the same politicians who claim to be against trickle-down economics have no problem bailing out banks and other politically connected businesses?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-m-mcgroarty/ever-notice-how-the-same-politicians-who-claim-to-be-against-trickle/) [Colin M. McGroarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-m-mcgroarty/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-moore/the-rich-run-a-global-system-that-allows-them-to-accumulate-capital/) [Charles Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-moore/) > [With post offices and postal workers already on the ground, USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/with-post-offices-and-postal-workers-already-on-the-ground-usps-could/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [Much of what Germany and France have done in the rescue of Greece has also helped German and French banks, who for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-monti/much-of-what-germany-and-france-have-done-in-the-rescue-of-greece-has/) [Mario Monti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-monti/) > [The world needs banking but it does not need banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-world-needs-banking-but-it-does-not-need-banks/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Banks are the temples of America. This is a holy war. Our economy is our religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giannina-braschi/banks-are-the-temples-of-america-this-is-a-holy-war-our-economy-is/) [Giannina Braschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giannina-braschi/) > [In the old days we were the challenger brand competing against the big banks, but today I go round the world and I sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-dorfman/in-the-old-days-we-were-the-challenger-brand-competing-against-the/) [Lloyd Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-dorfman/) > [“The kind of data and the data-analytical perspective privy to banks is quite unique to banks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/the-kind-of-data-and-the-data-analytical-perspective-privy-to-banks/) [Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/) > [My father, Cecil Banks Mullis, and mother, formerly Bernice Alberta Barker, grew up in rural North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-father-cecil-banks-mullis-and-mother-formerly-bernice-alberta/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [If your only arbiter of anything is money, really you should... go and rob banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dickinson/if-your-only-arbiter-of-anything-is-money-really-you-should-go-and/) [Bruce Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dickinson/) > [No paper trail means no banks. And no banks means cash houses. -Mia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fast-five/no-paper-trail-means-no-banks-and-no-banks-means-cash-houses-mia/) Fast Five > [I did something that challenged the banking world. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-did-something-that-challenged-the-banking-world-conventional-banks/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) [Browse all 387 Banks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is going to pay the price.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-because-society-is-going-to-pay/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Banks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-because-society-is-going-to-pay/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f6/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_banks_we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-bec_2568018.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We should ban banks from risk-taking because society is going to pay the price.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We should ban banks from risk-taking...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-because-society-is-going-to-pay/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-should-ban-banks-from-risk-taking-because-society-is-going-to-pay/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```