Be not imprudent!

The costs incurred by the imprudent companies will be partly socialized.

It would be imprudent to change horses in midstream, if you know what I mean.

Whether an existing or a newly established mechanism is involved, it is necessary to avoid imprudent action.

PARIS And the next French President will be the Socialist Party s candidate François Hollande. A month ago, any prediction uttered with such certainty would have sounded imprudent, if not foolish.

This puts the question of the origins of the crisis in a somewhat different light. It was not so much predatory lenders as it was imprudent, or deluded, borrowers, who bear the blame.

It was imprudent to include such an imprecise and politically compromised formulation in the draft Convention, which was to be the basis for the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of such criminal acts.

They are right. It would be imprudent to assume that the French and Dutch no votes were not about discontent with Union policies but that anger was directed against the French and Dutch governments, not Europe itself.

To make of their country a pariah is a political, strategic, and moral failure for the leaders of Israel. Those leaders strategic decisions over the last few years, if not longer, have been rather consistently poor, or at least imprudent.

We are of the opinion that it is imprudent to include such an imprecise and politically compromised term in the Convention, which is assumed to be the basis for the prosecution and punishment of the culprits who commit such criminal acts.

Most explanations of the causes of the post 2007 financial crisis point to five sources of instability. First, the crisis was precipitated by the peculiarities of the US real estate market, by government incentives for increased homeownership, and in imprudent lending by financial institutions.

Bad banks that are constructed generously enough to provide banks with hidden equity injections are one way to avoid or mitigate the credit crunch. But establishing them would be a bad idea, because to do so would imply that government subsidization of banks, thereby creating incentives for imprudent behavior in the long run.

In addition to reducing debt, Chile used its additional revenues to increase the resources of two fiscal funds when the recession began, there were more than 22 billion in assets in both funds. Despite imprudent fiscal management, Venezuela, too, maintained considerable resources in specific funds ( 11 billion at the end of 2008).

On one side are the moral hazard scolds, claiming that one of the major responsibilities confronting policymakers is to establish incentives that demonstrate that imprudent behavior does not pay. On the other side are the partisans of financial stability, for whom confidence in the financial system is too precious to be endangered, even with the best possible intentions.

But, if the past is any guide to the future, we should be aware of the limits of regulation. The UK s ICB has rightly stated that there is room to improve both competition and stability, given the current weak regulatory framework, but it would be imprudent to strive for the complete elimination of market power in banking.

There is much talk today about the risks of a new era of American isolationism and a lack of US leadership in the world. It is important to remember that isolationism can be triggered not only by a potential retreat from global affairs, but also by the rather imprudent use of America s hard and soft power on the world stage.

Of course, there may well be turbulence when US wage levels appear low because of a weak dollar, it is hard to export to America, and other countries must rely on other sources of demand to maintain full employment. The government may have to shore up the financial system if the changes in asset prices that undermined the dollar sink risk loving or imprudent lenders.

A sizeable reduction in aggregate demand through RMB appreciation is achievable without being imprudent, because the current account surplus in 2007 was 9.5 of GDP. Investment (especially in infrastructure in backward areas and social investments) should not bear the brunt of the expenditure squeeze, because today s investment is also tomorrow s growth in production capacity and the production of more goods tomorrow would reduce inflation.

That fact has not been achieved easily, as if the bloodstained history of humanity forms an antecedent to this seemingly simple proposition. Yet so long as imprudent potentates can obliterate flowers and trees, hope and mirth from the face of the Earth with a quick stroke of their folly and cruelty, it is premature to celebrate the ultimate triumph of the Logos over the sword.