The article extensively quotes a WSJ article that points outs that banks in the US have decreased from 8,000 in 2010 to under 4,700 today. But when you click th

The article extensively quotes a WSJ article that points outs that banks in the US have decreased from 8,000 in 2010 to under 4,700 today. But when you click through to that WSJ article [0], the included chart shows a fairly smooth decline during that period. In fact during that entire time up until a year ago, the Federal funds rate was 2.5% or less [1], which convincingly argues against the recent interest rate hikes being the primary cause of bank consolidations. [0] https://archive.ph/yPIqw https://archive.ph/yPIqw [1] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/fed-funds-rate-history/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/fed-funds-rate-hist... (Furthermore from 1990 to 2008 the vast majority of the time the rate was well over 2.5%)