To get a good picture of banks financial health, estimating the value of their toxic assets is unavoidable.

It documents cases relating to housing, business, health, transportation, trade, banks, drugs, agriculture, politics, culture, and the media.

Ireland s banks financed their rapid growth by borrowing from other European banks, so the health of Europe s financial system has become entwined with the survival of these insolvent banks. It is no surprise that the ECB is now Ireland s largest creditor through buying up its government bonds.

Financial regulation is driven by the interests of banks, health policy by the interests of insurance companies, and tax policy by the interests of the rich.

Rather than restoring the banks to financial health and ensuring responsible behavior, the Irish economy as a whole was dragged down.

Investor worries are now concentrated on the health of European banks, many of which have large exposures to Greece and the other southern European countries with severe fiscal problems.

Indeed, only last July the eurozone made a big show of its financial stress tests of its banks, giving almost all of them, including in Ireland, a clean bill of health.

But now Anglo Irish alone may have a capital hole as high as 70 billion, raising serious concerns about the true health of other Irish, Spanish, Greek, and German banks.

Of Banks and Bailouts

The End of Banks?

There is little chance that banks will re lend to these non banks the funds they borrowed from central banks, given these banks own severe liquidity problems and mistrust of non bank counterparties.

The banks that failed during the Great Depression of the 1930 s were small banks.

When banks stopped providing short term liquidity to other banks and industrial companies, central banks filled the gap.

British Banks Comedy of Terrors

How to Bail out Good Banks and Let Bad Banks Fail

Source Ministry of Health, 2001 Health Yearbook

Ministry of Health, basic health indicators, 2004.

Ministry of Health, general health indicators, 2001.

Ministry of Health, health policy, 1997 2001.

Elimination of Glass Steagall then allowed commercial banks to encroach on the investment banks other traditional preserves.

First, banks still have few reliable means of checking borrowers creditworthiness, including previous loans from other banks.

The implicit subsidy to banks means that German banks have an advantage over those of other countries.

Vice Ministry of Health (Ministry of Health and Sports)

The Federal Ministry of Health and the provincial health departments run an extensive system of hospitals, dispensaries, maternal and child health centers, rural health centers and basic health units.

The banking sector has undergone tremendous transformation, from over 80 banks to 25 banks. Strengthening of the system.

Critics point out that plain old bad lending by the commercial banks accounted for 90 of banks losses.

Reproductive health (maternal and child health, family planning, adolescent health, men's health, women's health, safe motherhood).

In Europe, the banks wounds must be closed weak banks must be shut down or merged with stronger banks before recovery can begin.

Government subsidies for private bad banks, or public bad banks to clean up private banks toxic assets, are a bad way for taxpayers to transfer money to troubled banks compared to normal capital injections.

Some French banks traders openly boast of backing by the French government, which will never let its banks fail.

Source From 2001 Statistical Health Yearbook, Ministry of Health

Taming Europe s Banks

Europe s Naked Banks

Europe s Zombie Banks

What is the logic of this crazy carousel? German banks hold at least 48 billion in Irish bank debt, British banks hold another 31 billion, and French banks hold 19 billion.

Recapitalization of banks that appeared very vulnerable

LONDON The crisis in the eurozone remains far from resolution. Investor worries are now concentrated on the health of European banks, many of which have large exposures to Greece and the other southern European countries with severe fiscal problems.

The reaction among national politicians, central banks, and banks themselves was not universally favorable.

Financing from banks has also been constrained owing to deleveraging, particularly by European banks.

Big banks, not small banks, are the major players in the market for short term debt, which makes their bonds riskier than small banks bonds.

The banks these banks are now consolidated, and that strengthening of the banking system has attracted a lot of investment from outside.

Collectively, they have extended hundreds of billions of dollars in short term loans to both traditional banks and complex, unregulated investment banks.

While normal banks need an equity asset ratio of at least 7 , investment banks typically operated on a ratio of only 4 .

But, unlike banks, they do not have the safety net implied by central banks role as lender of last resort.

When Florida s banks go belly up, state finances are insulated, because the banks are ultimately the responsibility of federal institutions.