[gpos]

Actually, economist Joseph Stiglitz has written about the theory and existence of "credit rationing," i.e. restriction of loan supply by banks due to trouble distinguishing between "good" and "bad" borrowers. In sufficiently tough economic times, the proportion of "bad" borrowers is high enough (and the cost of distinguishing "good" from "bad" is also high enough) so that banks simply restrict credit. Here's a link.

http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~aafonso/eif/pdf/crrinf81.pdf

Austrian economics is great, but it often doesn't take into account that information neither free nor perfect.