Big banks lend to corporations over consumers

In the past week, the nation's biggest banks reported their results for the first three months of the year. Earnings were disappointing. But the numbers also showed a significant increase in lending, which many economists said was a welcome sign for the economy.

The problem: Every additional dollar, and then some, that the nation's biggest banks have lent out in the past year has gone to corporations. So, while corporate lending was up by 7%, or $101 billion, from a year ago, that masked the fact that consumer lending at the nation's five biggest lenders has continued to drop, by $12 billion in the past year alone.