If you want a first hand account, then click here, here or here.  As horrific as a run on a bank is, this is real: my friend in Hong Kong can see the crowds from his office.  If enough people withdraw their money, it doesn’t matter how well-run or profitable a bank is, it has to close and everyone can lose most of their savings.  So this is a wake-up posting to those of us who watched Bear Stearns and Lehman go under with a hint of a “I’m so glad it didn’t happen to me” expression on our faces.  

There is nothing like a big panic for irrational reasons.  What makes this one more important than Lehman going under is that Bank of East Asia are the 3rd biggest bank in Hong Kong (that makes them global