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Wake-up call for Central Bank

THIS is the story of Mr Debt. Mr Debt had an enormous appetite which was fed by a species called homo-sapiens, aka the People. Now these People were a greedy lot, who were willing to provide as much as Mr Debt demanded so long as he gave them little, little things in return like cars, TVs, fridges, music systems and sometimes a house. Mr Debt kept growing fatter and fatter by the day while the people grew emaciated, unable to feed Mr Debt but still wanting more and more from him.

Mr Debt had various houses called Banks and he would move from one Bank to another, because these houses, the Banks, were a clever lot, or at least they thought they were. ‘X’ Bank would tell the people to feed Mr Debt in their premises because they can get more stuff in return if they did so. The People believed them and went on feeding Mr Debt at various places, little realising that he would devour them one day when they stop feeding him. A time came when Mr Debt became so fat that when he stretched a bit, the Banks’ foundations would tremble.

Meanwhile, the place where these three — Mr Debt, Banks, People — lived, called the bubble, was bursting at its seams. One fine morning, unable to bear the strain of so much of foolish activity, the bubble burst. And Mr Debt, the People, the Banks had no place to live in.

Moral of the story: Wake up, Central Bank, before the bubble bursts.

• UAE