An easy way to explain the current situation

You have a wayward son who is still living at home at the age of 23. His income is about 30,000 dollars, but after doing a few sums you realise his outgoings must be at least 90,000 dollars given his spending habits.

You confront him on this situation and he explains that he has made up the difference by playing online poker using a clever "unbeatable" system. You don't really understand, but you take his word for it - he is a very clever guy.

One day you are putting his socks in his draw and you find a huge credit card bill! This must be it! This is the Bear Stearns moment.

You talk to his father and between you you decide how you are going to bail him out, but set him on the straight and narrow. When you go back upstairs to return the credit card bill into the draw you discover many more credit card bills at the back of the drawer. This is the Lehmans moment.

After much arguing, you come up with a plan. You will take out a second mortgage on the house and pay off his debts, and he will be so grounded he wont know what hit him. This is the Paulson Moment.

Finally you can breathe again. Yes you have a lot of debt, but you can just about manage if you cut back on vacations etc. Unfortunately what you don't know is he also has about three million in gambling debts, car loans and drug dealer payments to pay off. This is the current moment.