Deconstructing financial mythology

In its aptly numbered working paper 666, the Minneapolis Fed deconstructs (for the USA) what it claims to be the following four credit crisis myths from publicly available data up to 8 October 2008:

1. Bank lending to non…nancial corporations and individuals has declined sharply.
   
2. Interbank lending is essentially nonexistent.
3. Commercial paper issuance by non-financial corporations has declined sharply and rates have risen to unprecedented levels.
   
4. Banks play a large role in channeling funds from savers to borrowers.
   

There is not much reading to do as the authors rely on graphical evidence. (via MR)

P.S. And here's follow-up ... I'm sure there's more to come.