Hospital pass

摘要

Are America's banks: a) healthy, b) insol-vent, or c) being kept alive by the government but delighted to pretend otherwise? After announcing the results of the stress tests of the 19 biggest lenders on May 7th, officials and bankers invited the world to tick answer a)-though c) looks far more plausible. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the public and investors should take "considerable comfort". Executives testified to how conservative (read absurdly pessimistic) the tests were and share prices reacted euphorically. For a moment it felt like everyone might start high-fiving and originating subprime mortgages again.