The GAO responded by producing a deeply muddled report that followed the financial industry’s suggestion of focusing almost exclusively on the difference in bond spreads (interest rates on various forms of financing) between the largest banks and some of their competitors. Such spreads are only a small component of the funding advantage for big banks, and they are also highly cyclical – meaning that the advantage for the biggest banks manifests itself the most when markets are under pressure, as they were in the fall of 2008.
审计办公室给出了一份相当模棱两可的报告，在金融业的建议下，该报告几乎完全集中在最大银行和它们的某些竞争对手之间的债券利差（不同融资形式的利息）差别上。这一利差只不过是大银行融资优势的一小部分，也具有高度周期性&mdash;&mdash;这意味着最大银行的优势在市场承压时表现得最为明显，比如2008年秋天的时候。