The Two Sides of the Small Business Loan Supply Argument

February 28, 2013

We all read the chest-thumping platitudes how big Wall Street banks are breaking all sort of small business lending records. Specifically we’re talking about press releases by Bank of America, (UP 28%!), Citi (UP 21%!).

Then, you have the other side of the coin.

Inc’s Burt Helm writes small business lending only increased 0.4% last year, 17% below the Great Recession.

Writes Helm, “There really hasn’t been much of any recovery” for small businesses, says Scott Shane, a professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University. “You could make a case it’s no longer declining…[but] it’s all far below where it was before the recession.”

Check out his reporting here.