The complexity of structured finance made it difficult to know how losses would cascade down the ladder of investors in securitised assets.
I know how the loss of a job can affect an artist.
"Scientists don't know how much loss of potency could occur with out-of-date drugs, or what else might be happening, like a chemical change".
If I decide to self-insure, I would want to save enough to cover a big loss -- maybe at the 90th percentile, because I never know how big a loss I might suffer.
Although executives may desperately want to sue one another over recent losses, they may not know how big those losses are or want to know how big they are.
"We have got to get to the bottom of the housing market," he said, "before we know how big the losses are going to be".
JON LEE ANDERSON: I wouldn't want to sit in and play pop psychologist, but these are people that know how to assimilate loss, know how to assimilate terrible things and terrible afflictions in a way that we cannot even conceive of from our comfortable confines.
"I know how much that loss hurt me and I wanted to come here best prepared as I could be and today was a good start".
If anyone wants to know how significant the loss of a decent tight-head can be, they only need to look back to this fixture two years ago, when Ireland's Mike Ross was forced off early on and England's scrum dominance set up a thumping 30-9 victory.
"I don't know how many more losses you want to spot somebody before you think you can make the playoffs," Ryan said.
The fear on Wall Street, analysts say, is driven by uncertainty: investors do not know how widespread the losses could ultimately be.
