Another problem, regulators and bankers say, was the pack mentality, in the absence of rules prohibiting excessive lending in one area.

Japan's banks are saddled with an estimated $1 trillion in bad debts left over from excessive lending during the 1980's.

Such bailouts will only encourage excessive lending in the future, this argument goes.

While not being very restrictive, the central bank aims to curb excessive lending to new factories, real estate projects and road construction.

Indeed, they did so months earlier, before regulators and investors began worrying out loud about excessive lending to highly leveraged companies.

The cause of the bust, excessive lending, is hardly our biggest problem now but unemployment through loss of business to overseas competitors certainly is.

He blamed South Korea's own financial institutions for excessive lending to conglomerates.

Economists say China's economy remains largely healthy, though they expect another interest rate increase soon in an effort to reduce excessive lending.

But the profits from those securities have also allowed most banks to recover from the losses incurred through the excessive lending of the last decade.

So, yes, it was the Government that allowed and encouraged excessive lending.