This was not subprime lending.
Today we know that subprime lending was only a small fraction of the problem.
The two Leviathans have squeezed private firms into the riskiest ends of the mortgage market, such as subprime lending.
This specialised in subprime lending and was one of the first big Businesses to suffer serious problems.
The idea of housing as a one-way bet fuelled the boom in subprime lending and pushed prices up to a peak from which they could only fall.
"Because of the subprime lending crisis in the U. S. , American merchants are reducing their orders or not paying on time, " says Zhu Changling, vice-president of the China National Furniture Assn.
But the Banks also damaged themselves thoroughly - as with subprime lending - because much of the ultimate risk ended up on Banks' balance sheets, presumably much more than the top bankers intended.
