To be sure, our current circumstances are in no way comparable to those of 1998. Financial markets have continued to function reasonably well, and credit continues to flow, although admittedly with reduced availability to less-than-investment-grade borrowers and at interest spreads sufficiently elevated to press on profit margins of those lower-rated borrowers.
Both lenders and borrowers are reassessing their positions in light of an apparent uptick in domestic risks, but the palpable fear that dominated financial markets at the height of the crisis two years ago is not now in evidence.