Our use of the term "hedginess," coined by finance criminologist Bill Black, inspired commenter "Tim Myers" to engage in some neology of his own in order to prove his point:
"The hedginess will continue unabated, because our pols aren't gonna get all regulationy, as there isn't any cashiness or kickbackitude to be had via enforcementism. Say hello to an economy that will soon be all recessiony. Only a lot more so."
Reuters columnist David Cay Johnston discusses the roots of "hedginess" in his editorial "JP Morgan's $2 Billion Experiment With Truthiness."
"'Hedginess' riffs on 'truthiness,' the word the comedian Stephen Colbert invented in 2005. Truthiness means favoring versions of events that one wishes to be true, and acting as if they were true, while ignoring facts to the contrary that are staring you in the face. Fake hedges are to real hedges as 'truthiness' is to truth. Hence 'hedginess.' JPMorgan's trades got around the Volcker rule, which tries to prevent banks from speculating in financial derivatives, by labeling as 'hedges' bets that were clearly not hedges."
(Marissa Alioto is an intern on NPR's Social Media Desk.)
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