The aggressive lending at Conseco Finance should have been reined in, rather than accelerated.

And banks, having spent the early 1990's investing heavily in Treasury securities, found they could make more money by switching back to aggressive lending.

These losses were largely put down to aggressive lending to domestic property and corporate sectors, both of which were now in recession.

And the chief of Ford Credit, the company's big leasing unit, was ousted after earnings collapsed because of aggressive lending.

In 1989, the Dime paid for its aggressive lending in earlier years, as bad loans required it to announce a loss of $92.3 million.

Mr. Abboud said his plan to turn First City around includes aggressive lending, including to some of the same segments that brought the bank down.

Poor planning and overly aggressive lending on Citigroup's part also played a role in the loan losses.

Ford's financing unit was badly overextended because of aggressive lending to customers with shaky credit.

And aggressive lending has been a booming business, allowing even people with a weak credit history or limited resources to borrow to buy a house or apartment.

There are a variety of reasons, from more aggressive lending by banks to the long lags between tighter money and reduced investment.