A few more thoughts on the lilipad:

1. The pond gets bigger as the economy and the assets of the nation grows.
2. The pond may already be covererd with lilypads  (debt saturation)
3. The pond will be shrinking in size with the retirement of the baby boomers using assets to live on
4. The pond will shrink or at least have a harder time expanding until the demographics change in 20 years or so
5.  If we have already reached debt saturation levels and the lilipads already cover the pond,  each lilipad must shrink in size (reduced claim on assets of savings) or disappear (LTCM,Bear stearns, Lehman Bros, MF Global, pergrine)
6.  The bankers are so highly leveraged that they would be bankrupt if their lilypads had to shrink like everone elses, so the Federal Reserve multiplys the lilypads, gives them to the bankers, and everyone's lilipads become smaller.
7.  If you own land, gold or hard assets, you have a claim on pond surface area and own all the lilypads on that area.  It does not matter the size or the quantity of the lilypads in your area.
8.  As Jim Sinclair and Ann Barnhart says:  Get out of lilipads now!  Claim your surface space.