Teaching Men how to Bank

"The Banker's Algorithm derives its name from the fact that this algorithm could be used by the banking system to ensure that no bank ever exceeds its reserves, because a bank would never allocate its reserves in such a way that it could no longer honor all of its debts to its customers. By using the Banker's algorithm, any bank could effectively ensure that whenever customers withdraw their money, the bank never leaves a known "safe-state." If the customer's withdrawal request can be honored without causing the bank to leave the safe state, their request is granted immediately, otherwise they must wait until another customer deposits enough to cover the safe-state deficit."

    http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd06xx/EWD623.PDF