a wall of ..

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To me, the issue is this: one of the problems that lay behind the 2008 crisis was the fact that we had a wall of saving, a wall of money, in the east and a wall of debt in the west. This imbalance of money, this massive surplus of cash seeking out places to invest, led to all the problems of new bonds and financial instruments being created and the asset bubbles in the west that, when they burst, caused so much damage.

How is this word "wall" used in the above context? Does it suggest extremity of something?

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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 682 • Replies: 4

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A wall suggests a large pile or heap or surplus or excess.

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But it's not good journalism, and it's a poorly-chosen metaphor imho, because a wall suggests a barrier, not a great quantity.

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

But it's not good journalism, and it's a poorly-chosen metaphor imho, because a wall suggests a barrier, not a great quantity.

Once again, the original poster has failed to give the source. I am so tired of seeing this!

Googling for the exact phrase with quotes thus: "we had a wall of saving" quickly reveals that it is from a speech (not journalism) by the British Prime Minister David Cameron, delivered at the G20 Summit in Seoul in November 2010.

Quote:

Mr Cameron also warned that stability would not be delivered while the current stark trade imbalances persisted.

“The issue is this: One of the problems that lay behind the 2008 crisis was the fact that we had a wall of saving in the East and a wall of debt in the West."

So I revise my earlier post. A wall is a substantial barrier, not easily removed, unlike (say) a fence. The "walls" were substantial accumulations of savings in the East and debts in the West which were so large that they formed barriers which restricted the possible actions that could be taken to overcome the 2008 economic crisis. Countries were hemmed in by these walls.

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@contrex,

Quote:

So I revise my earlier post. A wall is a substantial barrier, not easily removed, unlike (say) a fence. The "walls" were substantial accumulations of savings in the East and debts in the West which were so large that they formed barriers which restricted the possible actions that could be taken to overcome the 2008 economic crisis. Countries were hemmed in by these walls.

To me, the issue is this: one of the problems that lay behind the 2008 crisis was the fact that we had a wall of saving, a wall of money, in the east and a wall of debt in the west. This imbalance of money, this massive surplus of cash seeking out places to invest, led to all the problems of new bonds and financial instruments being created and the asset bubbles in the west that, when they burst, caused so much damage.

East - tons of money, a huge wall of money looking for a place to earn interest

West - tons of debt, a huge wall of debt, a self standing, unsupported, shaky wall. Shady bankers and other financial gurus created dodgy new investment schemes which caused folks to think that there was really a boom going on, one that had a foundation. This created asset bubbles in housing, ....

Similar uses of 'wall' meaning something large and unstable.

Wall of death - from an avalanche, tsunami, rock slide, mud slide, ...

When the bubble, which was just a barely legal Ponzi scheme, burst, ... the resultant mess.

The walls, to my mind, refer to humongous amounts of hard cash [east] and humongous debt [west]. Both were unstable.

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a wall of ..

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