Harry Terris

Despite grim predictions that the credit crunch would choke off the economy's biggest engine — consumption — people have indeed been spending again.

Bills are fatter, but many have marched directly to chargeoff, and jacked-up rates and fees have not pointed toward substantially higher portfolio yields until recently.

Banks came close to returning as net mortgage lenders in the fourth quarter, but a move into positive territory does not yet appear likely.

Cyclical swings in the growth rate of bank lending have frequently been sharper than for overall nonfinancial debt.

Preliminary data indicates bank loans are on track to fall more quickly than three of the previous four quarters.

The pivot to cardholders with better credit appears particularly sharp at the Charlotte company, where loan quality worsened more than at competitors.

Investors have fled money market funds as they have struggled to offer higher yields than are available for insured deposits.

Revolving consumer debt, mostly comprising credit card loans, fell $110 billion, or 12.7%, from an all-time peak in September 2008, to $866 billion in December 2009, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Federal Reserve.

Revolving consumer debt, mostly comprising credit card loans, fell $110 billion, or 12.7%, from an all-time peak in September 2008, to $866 billion in December 2009, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Federal Reserve.

Since the market chaos of fall 2008, a surge of deposits has reshaped the banking industry's funding base, but the repositioning has been uneven across institutions in different asset classes.

A number of forecasters have predicted that the industrywide chargeoff rate will peak in the middle of this year or sooner. But it is likely to be a gradual and uneven turnaround.

A number of forecasters have predicted that the industrywide chargeoff rate will peak in the middle of this year or sooner. But it is likely to be a gradual and uneven turnaround.

The credit card industry continues to rely on credit card-backed bonds in roughly the same proportion as it has in recent years, even as net issuance has tailed off sharply.

The credit card industry continues to rely on credit card-backed bonds in roughly the same proportion as it has in recent years, even as net issuance has tailed off sharply.

The portion of small businesses that told a trade group that their recent borrowing needs had not been satisfied increased 3 percentage points from the month prior, to 11% in January.

Household balance sheets may be in shambles, and lenders badly wounded by the banking crisis, but, compared with some previous downturns, the recent contraction in consumer credit appears to have been middling so far.

The continuing collapse in bank lending has been of a piece with the severity of the Great Recession, but it has relatively recent precedent.

Household balance sheets may be in shambles, and lenders badly wounded by the banking crisis, but, compared with some previous downturns, the recent contraction in consumer credit appears to have been middling so far.

While U.S. policymakers are looking at ways to make credit more available to small businesses, a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business portrays the credit crunch as less of a current challenge for its constituents, and more of a potential one — if fundamental business conditions improve and borrowing needs increase.

Bank start-ups slowed to a trickle last year, and, if recent history is a guide, it could be a while before they pick up again.