Like many of you, I grew up watching It’s a Wonderful Life on television every holiday season. Frank Capra’s beloved film was a comforting part of our holiday tradition, often playing in the background while my family wrapped presents, cooked, or otherwise made merry.
Although the film was made in 1946, its lessons about money, power, and community seem remarkably relevant (and more poignant than ever) in 2025. Despite the passage of nearly 80 years, Americans are still facing many of the same issues that the citizens of Bedford Falls dealt with.
Rewatching George Bailey regain his hope can offer us a modern blueprint for handling these timeless economic woes.
Invest in each other
As a small child, I was fascinated by the bank run scene that occurs just as George (Jimmy Stewart) and his wife Mary (Donna Reed) are leaving town for their honeymoon. The citizens of Bedford Falls get spooked that George’s Building & Loan may fail, and so they show up to withdraw their money.
This scene was how I learned what a bank run is—and also how banks handle our money. Because George offers a masterclass description of how his business works. He tells the frightened customers the following:
You’re thinking of this place all wrong, as if I had the money back in a safe. The money’s not here. Well, your money’s in Joe’s house—that’s right next to yours—and in the Kennedy house and Mrs. Maitland’s house and 100 others. You’re lending them the money to build, and then they’re going to pay it back to you as best they can. Now, what are you going to do, foreclose on them?
This scene helped me understand that money deposited in a bank doesn’t (all) stay there. The bank lends it out so the money can grow.
