Overstock's Byrne deciphers Economic Meltdown Civilization Deleveraging

Patrick Byrne doesn't call it an economic meltdown. He calls it "the de-leveraging of a civilization." When the ever-quotable Overstock.com CEO last sat down with Radio Reg, the world still pegged him as a tin hat–wearing crackpot. But now that Wall Street has buckled under its own excess, he's been recast as an financial …

[Anonymous Coward]

Voice of God

Please tell Cade to turn the reverb down.

[Tom]

Mark to Market is probably

the more direct culprit in the current crisis. Just because one company had to sell their prices at fire sale discounts, all the rest of the companies that didn't have to sell them had to mark them down to the same value. And then companies that were sound were suddenly in dire straights and also had to sell their assets at fire sale prices. In that kind of environment, naked short selling is a rational way to make money.

[Jonathan McColl]

De-leveraging?

You've just had a hundred comments on buffling in which 'leveraging' came up often as a cause of word-rage. Lever: a whatnot for shifting things. Leverage: an emotional state where you're ready to get your life shifted by the guy who has the leverage. De-leverage: an emotional state where you're ready to get it back again.

Now we have our civilisation being de-leveraged? Sounds better than economically melting. I'm worriedly hopeful again.

I don't want to think of post-coitus naked shorts, so I'll just get my coat now ...