Banks That Had a Brain

By Amy Klobuchar
WashPost
Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I come from a state with many sound, responsible banks. To borrow from our unofficial poet laureate, Garrison Keillor, Minnesota is a place where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the bankers are above average.

From the largest entities, with tens of thousands of employees, to the small-town banks and credit unions, our financial institutions pretty much stayed away from the highflying, way-too-risky deals of the past decade. They made meat-and-potatoes loans to consumers and businesses in their communities. They did well, both for themselves and for the people they serve.

These Main Street banks did not dance down the yellow brick road to Wall Street dealmaking or Washington hobnobbing. When the pavement on Wall Street began to buckle and collapse, these banks did not panic and run to Washington with tin cups in outstretched hands. They continued to conduct their business, behaving the way, well, banks are supposed to.

Unfortunately, we now live in the cyclone of 24-7 financial news coverage. One pundit's idle chatter or a leader's words taken out of context can create a storm of controversy that wipes out stock prices in a whole sector of the economy.

(More here.)