BANKING BLUES

European Central Bank

Eurozone bank lending slowed last month, with loans to financial corporations slipping from 4.3 percent in August to 3.7 percent in September. 

Lending rates in the eurozone have been kept below pre-crisis levels. In 2007 and 2008, bank lending to business was at least 12 percent.

Lending to households held steady at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in September, unchanged from August.

TRENDPOST: The numbers show that the European economy is moving between stagnant and slow. GDP growth, despite negative interest rates and quantitative easing, is not part of the equation. There is no true recovery, and more of the same will not significantly stimulate economies.

Further, calls for fiscal policy, i.e., governments spending more to boost economic growth, will not reverse the gears of the “Greatest Depression.”