flight to cash
n.— «But there were persistent rumors in 1974 that the banking system was in danger, Mr. Richardson said. Without the boost of confidence from the Lifeboat, those rumors might have become self-fulfilling, and if one major bank had collapsed, I do not know where we would have stopped. At the time, stock market and property values were collapsing after a long upsurge begun in the 1960s, touching off a flight into cash.» —“British financial crisis averted by ‘lifeboat’” in London, United Kingdom Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) January 20, 1978. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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