Credit Ratings Depend on Size

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Dec. 26 at 2:55 p.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

If you find a little extra time this holiday week, seek out some self-congratulatory economic literature from the 1990s boom discussing why the U.S. was a special place to start and nurture new businesses.

No, this is not another tendentious screed on Sarbanes-Oxley; please keep reading.

The list always included American firms' direct access to capital markets; this stood in stark contrast to both Japan and Continental Europe, where commercial banks acted as gatekeepers to credit. Commercial bankers may be fine people on all counts, but their primary functions are lending money and providing services, not engaging in venture capital. The old joke about bankers only lending money to those who can prove they do not need it has a good measure of truth. ...