Power Plays

The Clearinghouse Nobody Voted For: How a Obscure 1970s Banking Rule Became the Spine of the American Economy

Episode Summary

Every paycheck, every direct deposit, every automatic mortgage payment in America flows through a system most people have never heard of — and that almost collapsed on a Tuesday in 2023. This week, we trace how the Automated Clearing House became too important to fail, too old to trust, and too politically untouchable to modernize, and we ask who actually benefits from keeping it that way.