Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Banks Are Starting to Lend Again...Barely

My thesis is that Barack Obama is more likely a goner than not (that could change but that is the state of play today) and, as such, businesses are slowly ramping up to enjoy better times when he is gone. Remember that both Victor Davis Hanson and I have predicted a surge in economic vitality once the Lightworker's departure is in the bag. My view is that we may indeed get good policy coming out of a Republican White House in 2013 working in tandem with a Republican or a split Congress, but that we needn't have it. Good policy would just be gravy. The simple fact of businesspeople coming out from under their desks, where they've been cowering in fear for the last three years, will be enough to generate meaningful and noticeable economic momentum.

Some are taking the leap of faith already. Bank lending is starting to creep up.
Despite all the bleak economic news, a funny thing has been happening in the financial industry over the last few months: the banks have quietly turned on the lending spigot...
Over all, corporate lending has rebounded 7.2 percent after bottoming out in October 2010. Consumer lending, with the exception of housing-related loans, turned positive during the second quarter and has been gradually increasing since then, the data show. All told, total loan balances are near where they stood in mid-2007.
It's not gangbusters, but it's a start. Expect a rough correlation between news like this and continuing bad numbers for the "sort of God" President.

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