Where have all the good banks gone?

Do you remember how the airlines got after 9/11? Remember when the flight attendants all of the sudden became scared that their professions just got exponentially more dangerous and combined with the uncertainty about their jobs and their future became easily agitated and seemed a bit rude?

I think I'm seeing the same thing now that the credit crisis has really set in. In the last couple of weeks I've dealt with several different banks looking for a modest loan for another motorcycle at the house of the Thrifty Expat.

To my surprise the people at the banks that I’ve been dealing with are generally not friendly. I turned down a loan from my bank (who I have this insane loyalty to) because the guy on the other end was just a little rude. I turned down another with a lower interest rate because they refused to issue me a co-signed loan with my wife (who for the record, has a better credit score than I do).

This of course means very little in the grand scheme of things. The rates for borrowing are going up (one percent in the last 3 weeks that I have noticed) while the prime interest rate is going down. Someone explain that one to me! The Federal Government is infusing banks and lending institutions with money, but their standards for loaning out seem to be tightening up.

I'm not just talking about big banks - I'm talking about Credit Unions and member-only banks that appear to be circling their wagons and keeping their money to themselves. I just wonder exactly how long this is going to go on for.