Let’s Just Call It An Even Trillion

The International Monetary Fund said that losses related to the U.S. mortgage crisis may total as much as $945 billion. Residential losses could total $565 billion with commercial real estate accounting for the rest. Bloomberg quotes the IMF report “The current turmoil is more than simply a liquidity event, reflecting deep-seated balance-sheet fragilities and weak capital bases, which means its effects are likely to be broader, deeper and more protracted. The report also states that “a serious funding and confidence crisis that threatens to continue for a significant period.”

I am not sure how the IMF managed to be so precise with their estimate. However just for the sake of simplicity let’s just say it is an even trillion. After all the next estimate is probably going to blow through the trillion mark anyway.