The rapidly expanding economies and bank credit growth kept the ratio of nonperforming loans to total bank assets low. The failure to have backup forms of intermediation was of little consequence. The lack of a spare tyre is of no concern if you do not get a flat. East Asia had no spare tyres.
Managing bank crises Banks, being highly leveraged institutions, have, throughout their history, periodically fallen into crisis. The classic problem of bank risk management is to achieve an always-elusive degree of leverage that creates an adequate return on equity without threatening default.