Moral hazard
The change in behaviour of someone shielded from consequences: expecting a rescue, a participant takes risk it would otherwise avoid.
How to read the number
It appears wherever the gain is private and the loss is shared — at a bank with deposit insurance, or with a manager paid for performance and not accountable for losses.
When the metric lies
It is removed by participation in losses rather than by prohibitions: capital requirements, deferred pay, and writing down creditors' claims.
Also known as: too big to fail