A white paper describing the process and methodologies of the US government’s stress-tests of the 19 biggest financial institutions showed that while most of the firms had capital “well in excess” of regulatory standards, reserves at some banks have been “substantially reduced” by the recession and market turbulence. As a result, it is clear that the US government will step in to provide additional funding in order to provide a greater buffer.
Looking to the test's economic scenarios, there are signs that the "more adverse" scenarios may ultimately be more reliable, as the US unemployment rate has already hit 8.5 percent (as of March).
| 2009 | 2010 | |
| Real GDP | ||
| Average Baseline | ?2% | 2.1% |
| Alt. More Adverse | -3.3% | 0.5% |
| Unemployment rate | ||
| Average Baseline | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Alt. More Adverse | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| House prices | ||
| Baseline | -14% | -4% |
| Alt. More Adverse | -22% | -7% |
