The way American banks can finance people to do business is simply mind-boggling for global standards. And, most of the time, there is no repercussions for failing.

USA: You don't have a home. You get a 100k loan and buy a home. You can't pay the loan. Bank takes the home, and you are off the hook.

Greece: Bank takes the home and you still owe the money. For life. Any other assets you have are confiscated. Same for small businesses owners that take a small loan and go bust, losing cars, homes, etc. Of course the difficulty in obtaining a loan is tremendously higher - almost impossible.

Yet with all this "easiness" of making business with borrowed money, the US has created a bubble economy which is reliant on credit. The bubble will be preserved for as long as there is no huge liquidity crunch.