Not for the reasons he cites do I wish Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke proves correct - that small banks will have a big role in recharging the economy.
"If community banks are prudent but opportunistic in extending credit to strong borrowers, they will help the economy recover while benefiting from that recovery themselves," Bernanke said.
Community banks should be able to make loans that big institutions, ensnared in all those complex security thickets, are still avoiding, and they could come to the rescue when local businesses or families need help with credit.
The Washington Post reported the other day that some community banks have seen deposits rise by 8 percent this year. So if the small banks prevail, and they help retailers and consumers alike through this mess, maybe more of us will appreciate their value.
Maybe the bank-consumer relationship becomes more personal again.
Maybe people like Steve Kropkowski can catch a break.
Pardon me for idealizing customer service at a community bank - I'm a sucker for It's a Wonderful Life and the way George Bailey conducted business at his "wonderful old building and loan" - but I have to believe that Kropkowski might not be facing foreclosure today had his lender been local. It's a leap to presume that, of course, but at least that's the way things ought to be, or might be in the future. A man ought to be able to sit in a room and work things out, one human being to another.
The big institutions - such as Kropkowski's lender, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo - operate on such a large scale they don't have time to hear all the details.
The details don't take all that much time, and they go like this:
Steve Kropkowski is married to Rebecca, and Rebecca, who turns 41 on Wednesday, has brain cancer. She was diagnosed three years ago; she soon will be receiving hospice care at home. For the past year, Rebecca, an accountant, has been unable to work, so they lost considerable income and accumulated a considerable amount of medical bills their insurance did not cover. Complicating matters, Rebecca made mistakes with the $2,400 monthly mortgage payment on their house in Harford County.
Despite her condition, she had remained in charge of some bills, including the one from Wells Fargo. Apparently, she did not pay the mortgage for December, January and February.
