Bailout
Support for a failing bank or company out of the budget or from the central bank.
How to read the number
It is justified on the grounds that a large participant's fall would cost more than the rescue. The price is that private creditors' losses are transferred to taxpayers at large.
When the metric lies
The mirror arrangement is a rescue funded by creditors, in which subordinated debt is written down: for an investor these are opposite outcomes under an identical headline.
Also known as: bailout package