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John Schmid, Economics reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has provided consistently excellent coverage of Elizabeth Warren’s Congressional panel. Here is his latest posted May 8:
"Banks making far fewer loans, report finds"
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A week after it conducted a public hearing in Milwaukee, a watchdog panel for the nation’s bank rescue left little doubt that bank lending to small businesses and consumers has decreased.
"The panel found compelling reports of slowed lending at its recent field hearing in Milwaukee," wrote the Congressional Oversight Panel in a 172-page report published this week.[...]
6 Comments
Thanks for bringing this report to our attention!
Yesterday, when for some reason this diary was closed, I commented over on FDL Late Night, wondering why, and adding:
The article that the diary is apparently about may be Oversight panel finds trouble in consumer lending, By Silla Brush, posted at TheHill.com. Apparently the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) ain’t doing too well.
I guessed the wrong news article, but the right report, which I also mentioned in the next comment:
The Congressional Oversight Panel, with the interesting acronym COP, has a report on its home page, Reviving Lending to Small Businesses and Families and the Impact of the TALF, which is hot off the presses (May 7).
Congress ought to be holding hearings on this report!
Bob in HI
Thanks Bob.
The purpose of both the TALF and the PPIP was to soak up crap assets from banks. Initially, the TALF was targeted to old crap securities but under Geithner was extended to new securities. Not one dollar of TALF money was ever earmarked to any actual loan. It was just proposed to help underwrite any securities that were created off of such loans because A) securitization has worked so well so far (aside from causing a worldwide financial meltdown) and B) banks were seriously going to do a lot of original loans in the dreadful economic conditions that they did so much to create. Like all Geithner-Summers plans this one started out with an untenable premise and deteriorated from there. Go figure.
Maybe it’s time for the Treasury to begin loaning money to other banks besides the Federal Reserve Bank, so we can not only get more credit flowing, but to introduce/allow more competition in the banking industry.
I think Bernanke has been doing well, but he can only do so much by himself.
IMHO, Bernanke’s as armpit deep as anyone.
Talking Economic Accountability with Nomi Prins
Boo, what an incredible double standard. Not lending and predatory interest. Congressional and administrative action is glacial for the comon good, only when it comes to corporate bail-outs do they move faster than the speed of light!