Your question is absolutely on point.
The IMF estimate, just for the record, is $4.1 trillion on assets spread globally, but a large proportion of those troubled assets, according to the IMF, is in the United Sates. So the problem still exists. For absolute clarity, it is still an underlying assumption of our current projection that there will be steady progress in stabilizing the U.S. banking system and therefore the global financial system.
What does the U.S. need to do? The first step will be taken on Monday, May 4, with the results of the stress tests that have been conducted on the 19 largest banks--three-quarters of U.S. banking assets. We will look for conservative assumptions in both the economic outlook, which we understand, and the application to losses and capital requirements, which is part of the methodology. We have confidence that that will be the case, but it's short enough in the horizon; we need to see the results.
Then the institutions themselves will need to move forward with raising capital, either through the public sector or on their own. That's another leg of it. That will take some time. Very important is the need to separate the troubled assets, toxic assets, and legacy assets from the institutions. As you are no doubt aware, there is a series of mechanisms to do that involving private capital and public leverage. Those transactions also need to happen in a fairly expeditious fashion.
The last thing to be said is we need stabilization, not just in the U.S. but globally. We need different designs but similar effective steps to recap and separate assets, in order to continue to proceed in the United Kingdom and Europe.