September 30, 2008

Bottomry, noun
Using the ship as collateral to finance a sea voyage

"I see," said Nipper. "And how does this add to my 21st century lexicon, exactly?"

"Because if you prop up an economy by allowing people to get into ridiculous debts they can't afford, meaning they can't pay them back, meaning the very banks that allowed the credit now can't see any of it coming back, it's basically like sinking your own ship," explained Zeds.

"You mean, if the bottom falls out of the market, you're buggered?"

"Something like that - but perhaps without the superfluous bum reference."