Lending is and must remain an entrepreneurial activity, based on a prudent, professional evaluation of the validity of companies’ plans. Sooner or later, imprudent banks end up in distress and also cease lending. But the test posed by the crisis is severe and requires the ability to be good bankers even when the economy is doing badly.
11 In addition, it is also important to bear in mind that changes in the rate of growth of productivity do not occur in a vacuum, but instead typically take place at the same time as other unforeseeable events.