When banks stop intermediating loans, this policy no longer  5  4  See Bernanke (2009). BIS Review 52/2009  works. Quantitative easing is successful if it narrows the market spreads between the rates paid on selected credit instruments and policy rates, thereby limiting the risks of a liquidity shortfall and encouraging banks to extend credit to higher interest-paying parties.
Then the note takes us to the Canadian Shield, that ancient mass of rock that covers roughly half of the total land area of Canada. This is a view that many Ottawans may find familiar: forest, rock and water, minus the blackflies.