It was in August 2007 that those acute funding difficulties first became apparent in European markets. Five years on, US banks have made a lot of progress in working through their asset quality problems and their capital deficiencies. At times the process was not pretty, but the US system is in better shape today as a result.
US taxpayers have earned a positive return on the investments in major banks that were made at the height of the crisis. In Europe progress has been much slower.