These are extraordinary times for lenders, borrowers and savers. There are huge disconnects that make no sense and it will require corporate financiers with imagination to solve the conundrum.

Banks have changed their lending criteria beyond all recognition from the lax standards of two years ago. Many banks are in effect still shrinking their balance sheets, despite all the political rhetoric. Whether it be loan-to-value ratios, or valuation criteria for real estate, or profit multiples for corporates, banks are typically lending as little as half as much as in the past for comparable propositions.