It is almost as if the EU and IMF were trying to create a banking panic in Europe.

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Could it really kick off a global banking panic?

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And the Fed, seeking to avoid a repeat of the panic, wants banking concerns to amass lots of capital.

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In any case, a massive net sale of securities that would be necessary to shrink total Fed assets to pre-crisis levels would sharply contract the money supply and likely produce panic in the banking and financial system.

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The banking board is worried in case panic spreads to depositors at other Islamic financial institutions.

ECONOMIST: Full of interest

Government support to the banking system can break the cycle of panic and pessimism that threatens to suck the economy into deep recession.

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But it also risks triggering depositor panic across Europe's weaker banking systems, something the euro zone spent most of 2012 trying to avoid.

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We have been conditioned by experience to expect a panic when we hear of stress in the banking system, and in that context Europe may just be a distraction to the real threat facing the market.

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