I have already pointed out in another thread that the problems faced by banks in terms of their derivitaves portfolio dwarf their lending exposure
The above article examines some of the tell-tales available to inspection in the world today and suggests this may only be the end of the beginning, and that, without facing up to the looming recession, the monetary bailouts being used the world over to ease the crisis may in fact be adding to it.
"After the last Great Depression, Keynesian economists emerged victorious in proposing that a nation must spend its way out of crisis. This time around, they will be proven wrong. The world is a very different place now. Loose credit, easy spending and massive debt is what has led the world to the current economic crisis, spending is not the way out. The world has been functioning on a debt based global economy. This debt based monetary system, controlled and operated by the global central banking system, of which the apex is the Bank for International Settlements, is unsustainable. This is the real bubble, the debt bubble. When it bursts, and it will burst, the world will enter into the Greatest Depression in world history."
I wrote to the BIS some months back asking for their comments on whether their own actions in requiring a higher capital lending ratio precipitated the current crisis - I have yet to receive a reply.
Perhaps some of the more experienced financial professionals here will be able to shed some light on the above for laypeople.
ONQ.