Either way, the true value of banks’ toxic assets must be estimated before concluding that banks are armed with sufficient capital to carry out their critical roles. The kind of stress tests that the US conducted, and that other countries are being urged to emulate – and the ability of banks to raise additional equity capital – cannot provide a basis for such a conclusion.
不管以上的哪一种可能性出现，银行的实际资产都应该考虑到有毒资产的因素，这样银行才真正拥有足够的资本来扮演它的重要职能。压力测试的目的是检测银行融资的能力。如果美国政府按照目前的压力测试模式，而其他国家随后争相效仿的话，我们就不可能得到一个正确的结论。