The Only Government Programs that Work are Air Traffic Control and the SBA
April 30, 2013
Says the American boss of Britain’s first new bank in 100 years.
Vernon Hill wants the U.K. to import an SBA styled loan program.
“The only other Government programme in America that works, other than air traffic control, is the Small Business Administration. It’s a massive government guarantee system for small business lending. It’s designed to guarantee loans that fit in that gap between those companies who are strong enough not to need it and those that are so weak we shouldn’t be giving them loans no matter what. There’s a gap. The British Government has a programme called EFG, it meant to be that programme but it’s small, it’s ineffective, nobody uses it.
“If I were to do one thing to spur lending, I would dramatically overhaul the EFG, make it bigger, more robust, more authority in the banks, modernise the collateral rules. It’s the mechanics. EFG is the one specific area that I can see would help.”