A $516 trillion derivatives 'time-bomb'

by Margareta Pagano and Simon Evans from The Independent 12 October 2008 The market is worth more than $516 trillion, (£303 trillion), roughly 10 times the value of the entire world's output: it's been called the "ticking time-bomb". It's a market in which the lead protagonists ­ typically aggressive, highly educated, and now wealthy young men ­ have flourished in the derivatives boom. But it's a market that is set to come to a crashing halt ­ the Great Unwind has begun.

Continue