A National Federation of Independent Business November ’09 survey indicated that while one-third of respondents worry about weak sales, only 4 percent of small-business owners viewed financing as their top concern, and only 10 percent reported problems getting a loan.   “It has been 35 years since businesses were this reluctant to boost inventories or consider capital expenditures,” stated William Dunkelberg, the NFIB’s chief economist; “the firms that should be borrowing aren’t there.”  In a similar vein, Camden Fine, the CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America told the “Washington Post” in December 2009 that community banks have got “plenty of money to lend,” and the problem was a lack of demand from business.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the volume of small business loans on banks’ balance sheets at the end of the second quarter of 2009 was $761 billion, down 2 percent from a year earlier.  While weakened and cautious banks are getting blamed by many journalists and politicians for cutting off credit to small businesses and delaying the nation’s economic recovery, the NFIB survey results suggest that cautious small business owners are also a major factor.