Global Derivatives: the $ 1.5 Quadrillion Time Bomb
Published on Global Research.ca, by Stephen Lendman, July 26, 2015.
When investing becomes gambling, bad endings follow. The next credit crunch could make 2008-09 look mild by comparison. Bank of International Settlements(BIS) data show around $700 trillion in global derivatives.
Along with credit default swaps and other exotic instruments, the total notional derivatives value is about $1.5 quadrillion – about 20% more than in 2008, beyond what anyone can conceive, let alone control if unexpected turmoil strikes.
The late Bob Chapman predicted it. So does Paul Craig Roberts. It could “destroy Western civilization,” he believes. Financial deregulation turned Wall Street into a casino with no rules except unrestrained making money. Catastrophic failure awaits. It’s just a matter of time.
Ellen Brown calls the “derivatives casino…a last-ditch attempt to prop up a private pyramid scheme” – slowly crumbling under its own weight.
For years, Warren Buffett called derivatives “financial time bombs” – for economies and ordinary people … //
… Near the end of his tenure, Bill Clinton signed legislation repealing Glass-Steagall (the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act – letting insurance, investment and commercial banking merge) and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (permitting unregulated commodity and derivatives trading).
A casino culture of anything goes persists. When counter-parties don’t have funds to pay on demand, bubbles begin deflating. It’s just a matter of time before current market mania ends.
(full text).
(Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached by e-mail. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Visit his blog site. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs).
Links:
David Hartsough, co-founder of World Beyond War in Berlin, 16.51 min, uploaded by antikrieg TV, July 31, 2015;
about dead M.D.’s … and more, on Gesundheit Santé Health, July 30, 2015;
Review of Give a Man a Fish – Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution, on Basic Income Earth Network BIEN, by James Ferguson, July 29, 2015;
Experiences in an US Jail – OSHO and OBAMA, 5.47 min, uploaded by OSHO International, July 22, 2015;
Weltklimavertrag, das Todesurteil unterschreibe ich nicht, im Spiegel online, Interview mit dem Aussenminister der Marshallinseln, von Axel Bojanowski, 22. Juli 2015 (Photos): er kämpft gegen den Untergang seines Landes und droht, den Weltklimavertrag scheitern zu lassen. In der Uno bestimme nicht die Politik, sondern die Industrie, sagt er;
Griechenland Erklärung Juli 2015 – Volker Pispers, Kabarett Neu in HD, 76.44 min, von Hagen Rether – Kabarett am 12. Juli 2015 hochgeladen;
I Have Been Keeping a Secret My Whole Life – OSHO, 11.18 min, uploaded by OSHO International, July 9, 2015: To understand more about OSHO Talks, their context and purpose, see OSHO Talks/about;
Schuldgeldsystem – Dirk Müller, Franz Hörmann, 15.12 min, von blo job am 20. Juni 2015 hochgeladen;
BEDINGUNGSLOSES GRUNDEINKOMMEN: Macht Geld faul? in ZEIT Online, von Verena Friederike Hasel, 27. Februar 2015: ein Internetprojekt entfacht die Debatte über das bedingungslose Grundeinkommen neu;
Most wars are resource wars based on False Flags – Dr. Daniele Ganser, FULL, 89.10 min, uploaded by Journalist Tommy Hansen, Aug 25, 2014 … he adresses False Flag Operations within the latest 100 years, mainly carried out by the US, the Empire of recent time. Dr. Ganser points out that the one thing fueling wars and conflicts is resources, oil first and foremost. Through wars the powers that be have maintained a development where the Cold War is back in it’s “hottest” form. The means have been like the ones used by Goebbels in the Nazi Reich. Dr. Ganser interviewed by journalist Tommy Hansen;
Strange Consequences – OSHO, 6.47 min, uploaded by OSHO International, Aug 11, 2006.