Too many research papers written by and for economists talk about the systemic effects of the (private) banking system, not the behavior of individual participants. Its certainly true that bank credit gets recycled into the banking system, so it could be argued that bank credit is actually created by banks. I would argue that its ultimately the depositors (and the shareholders) that create bank credit by lending to banks. Detractors from banks often spin research papers, such as those written by academic economists, into claims of unrestrained capability in the banks to create bank credit. Rather than the constraint that always applies to a private bank -- they cannot lend which they cannot borrow!
But this is getting way, way off topic for the thread, and in the context of net worth, bank credit cancels itself out completely -- ie: some Canadians will own banks and/or loans made to banks. Some will owe banks. The net should end up being zero, so meaningless on a net worth basis. But certainly can be very profitable (or alternatively, painful) if you're on the right (or wrong) side of the trade. During the US housing market collapse, for example, most Americans under 40 had negative net worth.
