She cashed in the CDs, she gave away the stocks and the certificates.

The irony is, though, that we have cashed out prosperity almost literally in terms of money and economic growth.

And those of you who cashed your money here might be surprised to see how many scripts there are on the rupee note, spelling out the denominations.

Indeed, the more powerful of the emerging markets know how to live within the current system, and they may use it to their advantage. They will, in effect, obtain an IOU, to be cashed in for something that is more important.

The negative effect is reinforced by the fact that, because CDS contracts are tradable, they tend to be priced as warrants, which can be sold at any time, rather than as options, which would require an actual default to be cashed in. People buy CDS contracts not because they expect a default, but because they expect the CDS to appreciate in response to adverse developments.