LETTERS

Re: “Bank tests cause stress,” April 19:

Your reporters call it a “potentially no-win situation” for the Obama administration. True enough, but the fallout from stress testing of banks is likely to endanger the entire system and further erode the ability of consumers and businesses to get loans.

Some examples: 1. Banks have been publicly harangued for failing to write more loans after taking federal funds. 2. Bank of America Chief Executive Ken Lewis was recently quoted as saying that “credit is bad, and we believe credit is going to get worse.” 3. As regulators review bank failures, they are questioning every judgment of the examiners and all of their methods.

If anything is consistent throughout the system, it is an utter lack of trust among all participants. With the new stress tests, we’re on even shakier ground.

Walter Mix III

Pasadena