This week, the local newspapers were struggling to explain the tangle to confused readers, puzzling over the sudden collapse of what appeared to be an Italian national champion, peppering their Italian prose with English expressions that probably meant little to the average Parma reader, like credit default swaps, self reference notes and trigger ratings.
Note to self: install credit-card machines on camels back home.
It was the classic recipe for a self-perpetuating credit squeeze.
But we ought to give our old selves more credit for doing what seemed right at the time – or at least acknowledge the fact that every decision which feels right now could seem just as foolish in five years.
Remember that prior to the crash, banks in Spain, Ireland, Britain and America appeared well-capitalised because of boom-time asset valuations, and not principally because of off-balance-sheet shenanigans.The solution would have been for the authorities, observing how their financial systems were caught in a self-feeding credit frenzy, to impose tighter lending criteria.
One type, called "self-referenced credit-linked notes" (CLNs), in which Parmalat invested $30m, was essentially an insurance policy written on itself.
An understanding between the two governments could curb the flow of funds.If the zealots are tamed, a formula might be found that gives Kashmiris some form of "self-determination", credits Pakistan with a victory on their behalf and preserves India's territorial integrity.
Especially not if it will leave you out of step with the growing number of voters who find divinity by spelunking the self.(Photo credit: AFP).
Confessions of brutal self interest — whether credit agencies admitting they would rubber-stamp products structured by cows, or Enron traders gloating over power failures — reliably shock the public.
A firm of lawyers acting for the company claimed that parts of the Murdochs' evidence were "hard to credit", "self-serving" or "inaccurate and misleading".
