Joe's stock would fall, suggested that the company should have written down the value of its assets by about two-thirds.

WSJ: St. Joe Pares Back Its Florida Vision

But he has written down the value of Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal - and he lost a fortune on the sale of MySpace, one of the original social networks.

BBC: Murdoch's biggest setback?

If mortgages could be written down to a value above the likely foreclosure sale price, that would generate benefits for both creditor and borrower.

ECONOMIST: Economics focus