How It's Used

“In a nautical Catch-22 for travelers, this summer is seeing some of the best cruise bargains in years—if only you can get to the boat. Some cruise fares are down by 25% or more from last summer, but airlines are more packed than they’ve been for 50 years, making it tough for travelers to reach their departure [embarkation] point.”

—Candace Jackson, “The Port Whine: Summer Cruise Crunch,” The Wall Street Journal, July 1-2, 2006, p. P1.

“Short-sellers don't kill companies. Managers do. But in late September, the Securities and Exchange Commission banned short-selling of financial and finance-related stocks. Call it the bucket list—a list of companies that might kick the bucket if short sellers were able to operate. The list, which started with 799 lucky duckies, is now approaching 1,000 and includes IBM and drug-store chain CVS. (Hey, at some level we're all finance companies). The list also includes two publicly traded hedge funds. In other words, you can't bet against the guys who are now forbidden to bet against stocks. Joseph Heller, call your agent.”

—Daniel Gross, “The Happy Talk Express,” Slate, September 27, 2008.

“Microsoft is sick and tried of getting caught in Catch 22 conversations with CIOs demanding that the software giant lower licensing costs. Now Microsoft can give those CIOs just what they want: a model that allows each and every business to use only what they pay for.”

—Steven Burke, “Five Reasons Microsoft Wants a Pay As You Go Model,” Channel Web, December 29, 2008.

"A good example is the case of Javier Rosales, a medical technician who died after he and a friend were captured and tortured by soldiers. Members of his family went to the state justice office and the federal attorney general’s office to file a complaint against the soldiers and demand an investigation. They were turned away because, the officials said, charges of army misconduct fall under military jurisdiction. However, Enrique Torres, a spokesman for the Joint Chihuahuan Operation, told me that the army looks into such allegations only through internal investigations or when formal charges have been filed by state or federal prosecutors. It’s pure catch-22: state or federal authorities will not receive complaints against soldiers, and the army will not investigate unless charges have been filed by state or federal authorities."

—Philip Caputo, "The Fall of Mexico," The Atlantic, November 12, 2009.

Links

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the expression "Catch-22"

Product Links
"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller