For investment-grade companies, it’s almost as much as you can eat,” says Charles Himmelberg of Goldman Sachs. But only a quarter of America’s listed companies can tap bond markets. Beneath them is a mass of small and medium-sized firms that collectively employs about half of American workers and is heavily reliant on banks. Ms Whitney argues that small-business owners—big users of credit cards and home-equity lines—face a severe credit crunch as these crutches get yanked away. Loans are harder to come by than at any time since the early 1980s (see chart). Surveys suggest they will get even scarcer.
— Credit in America: Slim pickings, no appetite | The Economist
