Language matters

Hiding meaning through obscure language is a long-held tradition, after all, that is what euphemisms are all about. However, avoiding regulated practices by calling them something else is an entirely different matter altogether. Insurance provision is a heavily regulated area for a reason, yet if you do not want any oversight, you call what you do something else and elude the regulators. If you sell insurance, but do not want the pesky regulators looking at what you do, then you call it a credit default swap, and presto, the regulators are gone (sort of like the expecto patronus spell of financial markets).

The world's financial markets are in trouble due to clever renaming. A sad indictment on regulation as a whole? Perhaps I should stop analysing the law and become a linguist. At least my grammar and sentence structure might improve.