A comprehensive survey by The Wall Street Journal shows that “Commercial real-estate loans could generate losses of $100 billion by the end of next year at more than 900 small and midsize U.S. banks if the economy’s woes deepen.”

The paper added that “Total losses at those banks could surpass $200 billion over that period.” The Journal said that it used criteria similar to the ones used for the stress tests of the 19 largest US banks.

None of the government’s programs to stabilize the banking and credit systems seems to have taken these possibilities into account.

Douglas A. McIntyre