Hey David,
Really cool series, I finally understand some of the basics. Have you heard any estimates of how bad these SIVs are leveraged? I heard people say numbers like 1000:1, ie for every dollar in a real subprime mortgage there are $1000 worth of debt instruments just passed on to foreign banks, pension funds and townships. Is that true and how do you even begin to estimate this? Is this related to offshore bank secrecy, OTC derivatives and special purpose entities ala ENRON? if yes how?