Hybrid Worlds

Since the financial crisis started, I have the feeling that "Hybrid Worlds" have become a reality. In "hybrid worlds" the virtual and physical worlds come together; the internet and the real world, virtual reality, etc. In this financial crisis, it seems that financial instituations (physical world) and their stock value (virtual world) have come very integrated. The connection is as follows: a bank possesses many assets, many of them are on the stock exchange. Those assets go down in the crisis, and so thus the value of the bank. In order to accomodate for this (virtual)loss, the bank needs to make provisions. If the losses are too big, the bank needs government help, or it goes bankrupt. Nothing more physical then a bank going bankrupt. But physically, the bank is exactly the same as before. It is the virtual world that has taken over ...