Cash Stashed in Funds Instead of Banks Fuels US Slump Risks

  • More than $5 trillion has been plowed into money-market funds
  • Smaller banks are bearing the brunt of the exodus by savers

An American Flag hangs from a building in the Financial District of New York.

Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Money-market mutual funds are proving an irresistible place for investors to park their cash right now instead of banks.

The amount squirreled away in them has surged to more than $5 trillion and that risks becoming a problem for the US economy if that grows too much and too quickly.