I’ve yet to do a whole lot of reading on the results of the just concluded European bank stress tests that commercial banks passed (surprise!) with flying colors. Whether or not others have delved into the details or not hasn’t stopped a couple hundred of them from responding to this WSJ poll that clearly comes down on the side of the stress tests being more like an afternoon stroll than anything that would raise one’s blood pressure.

When you think about it, like the modern day currencies, commercial banks really are based on confidence more than anything else and faith that the system, as currently constructed, will somehow persevere regardless of how shaky it may appear at times. The word “credible” as used in the survey question above surely means something quite different today than if applied to stress tests that might have been conducted 50 years ago or 100 years ago. The current system of pure fiat money and fractional reserve banking, neither of which have any practical limits, is, basically, designed to fail.

Bloomberg reports that 84 of the 91 banks subjected to stress tests devised by the European Union (along with some help from us Americans) passed with flying colors and surprisingly little capital needs to be raised, prompting concern that the tests weren’t all that stressful.

Seven of 91 European Union banks subject to stress tests failed with a combined capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion), stirring concern the evaluations weren’t strict enough.

Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, Agricultural Bank of Greece SA and five Spanish savings banks have insufficient reserves to maintain a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6 percent in the event of a recession and sovereign-debt crisis, lenders and regulators said today.

The banks are in “close contact” with national authorities over the results and the need for more capital, said the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, which coordinated the tests. Governments are seeking to reassure investors about the health of financial institutions after the debt crisis pummeled the bonds of Greece, Spain and Portugal.

“It would have aided credibility if there had been a higher number of fails and a higher amount of capital raised,” said Jon Peace, a London-based analyst at Nomura International Plc. “People will be surprised that it is as small as that.

The important thing is that confidence in the banking system has been restored … or has it?