Barry Ritholtz and Chris Whalen Discuss Danger of Derivatives Market

From Bloomberg Law:

The unregulated multi-trillion dollar derivatives market exceeds global GDP [by an estimated 10x +] and poses a clear danger to the global economy, Chris Whalen, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners, and Barry Ritholtz, CEO at Fusion IQ, tell Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia."

"The fix is very simple," says Ritholtz, "repeal the Commodities Futures Modernization Act and suddenly this becomes like every other financial instrument."

Whalen notes that the financial industry is reluctant to change the way derivatives are managed because they generate large returns at a time when banks are less profitable than before. "The super normal returns that they earn from derivatives subsidize the rest of the business," he says.

One way or the other, Ritholtz and Whalen believe the financial industry needs to get used to the idea of making less money.