> The commercial paper market collapsed more than a year ago, shutting
> down a crucial avenue of financing for corporations (though the
> Fed's interventions are loosening it up some).
This paper from the Minneapolis Fed says otherwise:
---
Three Myths about Quantities
The Financial crisis has also been associated with three
widely held claims about the nature of the crisis and the
associated spillovers to the rest of the economy. The financial
press and policymakers have made the following three claims
about the nature of the crisis.
1. Bank lending to non-financial corporations and individuals
has declined sharply.
2. Interbank lending is essentially nonexistent.
3. Commercial paper issuance by non-financial corporations
has declined sharply, and rates have risen to unprecedented levels.
Here we examine these claims using data from the Federal
Reserve Board and Bloomberg.
Our argument that all three claims are false is based on data up
until October 15, 2008.
--- http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/WP/WP666.pdf
Are you guilty of this soundbite from the article?
"Even as the media continue to repeat the claim that credit has
frozen up, evidence has emerged suggesting the entire story is wrong."
...?
/jordan