Great article this weekend from Floyd Norris of the New York Times who begins by stating:More than $1 in every $10 that American banks have outstanding in loans is lent to a troubled borrower, a ratio far higher than previously seen in the quarter-century that such numbers have been compiled.
The problems are greatest in construction loans for single-family homes, where nearly 40 percent of the loans either are delinquent or have been written off as uncollectible. But they are also high in mortgage loans for single-family homes, where $1 in every $8 of loans is troubled.
Full article here.
Barry Ritholtz sums up the situation best:
That is what happens when we elected to go Japanese rather than Swedish on the financial sector - We saved the Banks, but sacrificed the Banking System.
