The results is a wave of mortgage defaults, which are eroding balance sheets throughout the European banking system.
Through the end of February and into March, Macquarie's shares fell to their lowest point in years, leading many analysts to wonder whether the steep declines in the bank's listed holdings had eroded its balance sheet.
Tougher times have eroded cash balances and, with less money in their pockets, many Italians may have ignored the tighter rules and continued thinking that taxes are optional.
They put up Medicare Part D, which had some good aspects, but again, it wasn't paid for and therefore further eroded the balancing of the budget.
Maybe if we all had dickfingers, gender would slowly be eroded, the balances of power would shift somewhere towards a middle common ground, everyone would get along better, handshakes would undoubtedly be more awkward but maybe we could fist-bump instead.
Vice President Dick Cheney has a parting message for Americans: They should quit whining about all the things he and President Bush did to undermine the rule of law, erode the balance of powers between the White House and Congress, abuse prisoners and spy illegally on Americans.
In all fairness, the banks may not have fully understood the extent to which the coming debacle would erode their balance sheets under mark-to-market accounting.
It's worth noting, as well, that in 2002, in the wake of the Enron scandal, many business schools vowed to examine eroded values and balance-sheet shenanigans.
Two vital needs for our nation now are to restore constitutional rights that have been eroded, checks and balances among the three branches of government and privacy rights of citizens; and to ensure the responsibility of the government to govern wisely and well in providing for common needs of our citizens.
