ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Diamond-Dybvig model

Have you ever heard of a piggy bank? It's something that people use to save their money. They can put their coins and bills in it and save it for later.

But what if someone needs to use their money in an emergency, like if they get sick or if they need to buy a new car? They can't just wait until they save enough money in their piggy bank. This is where banks come in!

Banks are places where people can put their money and the bank will keep it safe. And if someone needs to use their money in an emergency, they can simply take out the money from the bank.

But, banks don't just keep people's money in a piggy bank like a child would. They use it to earn money too! They give loans to people who need it and charge them interest. For example, if someone needs to buy a house, they can take out a loan from the bank and pay interest to the bank until the loan is paid off.

This is where the Diamond-Dybvig model comes in. It's a way to help banks make sure that they have enough money to give out loans, but also enough money to give back to the people who deposited money in the bank.

Think of it like this - if everyone who deposited their money in the bank came to withdraw their money all at once, the bank would not have enough money to give out to everyone. This is where the Diamond-Dybvig model helps.

It suggests that banks should keep some of the money deposited by people in a "reserve" to make sure they always have enough money in case people want to withdraw their money. The rest of the money can be used to give loans to people.

The Diamond-Dybvig model helps banks manage their money so that they can still make a profit by giving out loans, but also protect the money that people deposited with them. This makes sure that banks are not just safe for people to deposit their money but also help to grow the economy by giving out loans to people who need it!