Everyone's a Lender Now: Shadow Banking USA

How much private credit has been put in place but isn't in the official credit total is unknown and very likely unknowable. That means total systemic risk is also unknowable.

Everyone wants to lend us money now, even though they’re not banks: the insurance company Progressive offered us a loan, PayPal offers us a business loan every time we log in, and the payment processor Stripe includes a pitch to borrow money on its dashboard page.

Then there’s the ubiquitous payment plans offered by seemingly every vendor / retailer.

Thes…