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This story was first published by The Slovak Spectator on March 2, 2002. We have updated the piece to make it relevant for today.
Boy (bože, or ty vole, a Czechism), I'm glad I'm not one of those dismal (ponurý) people lined up outside Slovakia's collapsing savings-and-loans funds. Ty vole, I'm also pow'ful glad I ain't a government politician blamed for not protecting people better from their own foolishness (hlúposť) and greed (pažravosť).
Slovak savings-and-loans funds (investičné fondy) have for years been promising people 30-50 percent interest (úrok, perhaps because it's calculated yearly, or ročne) on deposits (vklady). They've been little better than pyramid schemes, in which collapse can be put off as long as advertising (reklamy, an unfortunate homophone with klamať, to lie) continues to hook (chytiť, zožrať aj s naviakom, meaning to eat even the reel on the fishing rod, one better than hook, line and sinker) new clients.
With the early February 2002 closure of BMG and Horizont, and soon after chaos at AGW and Drukos, the number of collapsed S & L houses exceeded 20, with billions in lost or 'unavailable' money.
