And because banks hate being beholden to central banks, they are reluctant to lend as much as the economy needs - even when, as is happening in the UK, the Bank of England and Treasury try to chuck unlimited quantities of cheap money at them.

BBC: Business

Private enterprise needs the confidence to invest and hire, and lenders need the confidence to lend.

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Banks in Europe, including the UK, are far more important to the provision of credit than is the case in the US. Roughly, European banks provide 80% of our credit needs, compared with 20% in the US - where securitisation that allows investors to lend is massively more significant.

BBC: How business can bypass banks