It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" so opens the Charles Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities.  A champion of  social injustice, Dickens sought, through the novel, to warn against revolution,  using the metaphor of sowing and reaping.  This is arguably  a fairly accurate description of what's going on across the world's financial centres.  Seen from the outside the lure of the subprime has created a highly sophisticated game of dominos now toppled by what has turned into a financial weapon of mass destruction. Yet at the same time, the same 'milieu' is striking deals and dividing up the spoils of war, be it clients or real estate portfolios. Whilst fear grows for economies and personal savings, little pity is shown for those who have 'lived by the sword' witness the glaring refusal of the US government to step in and aid Lehmann.  Are they reaping what they have sowed? For those slightly at sea with all the terminology around at the moment, I include myself on this one, the following BBC article on terminology might be helpful.