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by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Dec 18th, 2008 at 04:34:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
We need a new word - that money isn't funny, it's terrifying.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Dec 18th, 2008 at 04:55:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
TBG
that money isn't funny, it's terrifying.
Absolutely!  Seems to me the whole derivatives market is in serious need of winding down.  It has been suggested that the insurance industry concept of "insurable interest" be applied.  It is especially troubling to consider that those with great fortunes can buy derivative contracts involving defaults by mid sized countries or even large institutions and then use other of their assets to trigger such a default.  Rather like buying a life insurance policy on someone before you put out a "hit" contract on him, which is what "insurable interest" should preclude.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Dec 19th, 2008 at 08:27:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Wow!

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Dec 19th, 2008 at 08:35:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Looks like the real growth in derivatives started in June 2001 and just ballooned.
by Jagger on Thu Dec 18th, 2008 at 05:07:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's hard to tell from the figure as it is where it started. It's not obvious whether the pre-01 tail is the tail of an exponential distribution, or it is some kind of background.

Might be funny to play a little with the axes and some log-scales, though.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Fri Dec 19th, 2008 at 01:30:33 AM EST
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