In recent months, Japan's sorry banking history has provided the world with plenty of reasons to worry about America. Now, however, it might offer a crumb of comfort, too.
The reason? In part, it lies with those stress tests which Washington has just conducted on its largest 19 banks.
During most of the past two years, the American leadership has been in a state of procrastination and denial in relation to its banking woes: first it tried to pretend that the financial woes were not too serious, since they were "contained". Then it insisted that free market pressures would be enough to force the banks to come clean about their mess - without the need for the government to act.