Global Financial Markets, Derivative Securities, and Systemic Risks

The global use of derivative instruments has grown in importance, because they are less expensive tools for hedging risks and for investing in securities. Because several entities have incurred substantial losses in derivatives, leading to bankruptcy in a few cases, and because the size of the derivative market appears so large, legislators and regulators around the world, who have limited information about derivatives, fear that further possible bankruptcies pose a systemic risk to the economy. This fear is unwarranted. Affected entities will continue to make infrastructure investments to support their valuable derivative business, a more beneficial alternative to political solutions.