[PEN-L:301] What's in a name?

[knowware@xxxxxxxx (Tom Walker)]

Long-Term Capital, Ltd. is an ironic name for a company that specializes in
highly leveraged derivatives. It's proof, I guess, of a kind of humourous
aknowledgement among the players in this last hand of the capital game that
it is, indeed the LAST HAND. Anything goes because the casino is about to
close and nobody knows what'll happen after that.

The name can variously be read as a judgement on the long term prospects of
capitalism itself -- limited. Now, a limit is not necessarily an end. It can
be simply a parameter, a restriction or a *limitation*; a boundary, a bond
or a chain. That's the antithesis of so-called global capitalism, unfettered
international movement of funds and the endless, exponential increase
promised by compound interest.

Speaking of irony, nothing could be more ironic than "bailing out" a
financial speculator. There is only one rationale for the profits of a
speculator -- they are claimed to be a return for "taking a risk". A
speculator who will be bailed out takes no risk and therefore earns no
return on "investment". The proper word for such an entity is parasite.

In the light of events, one could suggest variations on the name of the
firm. The first to come to mind is Long-Term Parasite, Unlimited. By
embracing this long-term parasite, the big banks and the New York Fed
clearly reveal their preference for and dependence on an activity that feeds
on, rather than contributes to the "wealth of nations".

Regards,

Tom Walker
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