Sen. Carl Levin

Across Michigan and the nation, our small businesses are struggling under a dual burden. The economic downturn that has cut into demand for goods and services would be quite enough to contend with. But even businesses with willing customers and demand for their products face another challenge: lack of access to credit. I’m hopeful that Congress will act soon on legislation I believe could help make capital more available. The difficulty of finding bank financing is both a symptom and a cause of our economic troubles. The crisis that nearly toppled our economy in late 2008 and early 2009 was largely the result of a shutdown in lending by banks worried that they would be overwhelmed by bad loans. And as the lack of available credit rippled through the economy, it hit more businesses, cost them more customers, forced them to lay off more workers, and slowed economic activity even more, making banks all the more reluctant to lend and setting off a downward spiral.