First Post

It has been widely reported that despite massive liquidity injections on the part of central banks (notably the Fed in the United States), commercial banks are reluctant to resume 'normalized' lending activity. The reason usually given is the degree of economic uncertainty still lingering in the air around Wall Street. Major lenders, just recovering from near oblivion, are weary of assuming the same credit expansion that almost bankrupted the entire financial industry.

see: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/macro-view/why-us-banks-arent-lending/974/

Politically, rhetorical admonitions to resume lending to the "taxpayer who bailed you out" often contradict widespread concerns over the likely inflationary consequences of aggressive credit expansion. Especially given the extent to which the U.S. monetary base has been expanded and interest rates lowered in the Fed's desperate moves to recapitalize banks.