Tsk Tsk, Poor Bankers.

       As best as I can figure out, some of our largest banks have been lending money to Chinese companies based on collateral like aluminum and copper. That's in the China where it's companies have been sending us manufactured goods that are tainted, inferior or other wise dangerous. But our banks think it makes good sense to loan money to these folks. Okay, so what's the problem now? Well it appears those companies may have been using the same stockpiles of copper and aluminum as collateral for more than one loan. You don't suppose they're being sneaky do ya?
       It would be like you or I getting a mortgage on our vacation hide-a-way in Aspen, Colorado from one bank and then getting another mortgage from another bank and then doing it several more times. It's somewhat illegal, but hey, if you don't mind going to jail, it's a way to get your hands on some extra money. At least for a little while.
       But then if you're a company in China, you're not really concerned about laws in America. Now, our banks might get their money back if they can get to prove there was some shenanigans going on. On the other hand if they can't actually get to see if that Aluminum and copper are really there or not, then you might have a problem getting your money back.
       The thing is, though, it's not like China is a good citizen or fair player. As I said before they continually send us bad product, they spy on our industry and steal trade secrets, and they fix their currency to keep competitive. So why would our banks not want to do business there? China is a big customer with the potential to make them big profits, if they don't get cheated. The fact that funding for business loans back here are tight, and student loans are far too high, doesn't enter into the decision making process. Hey America will just have to get along on it's own with it's own banks. Oh! Wait! These are American banks.
       So what happens if our banks don't get their money back? I'll bet we'll have to bail them out. Does this sound at all familiar?