Doug says > Actually, I thought Andre Meyer coined the term "financial engineering," > but who knows? Where would we be without this grand new profession? Awash > in unhedgeable risk, no doubt. > I have discussed this with a derivative trader acquaintance of mine. He of course said that derivatives are neccessary to reduce risks for real economic business, i.e. a stabilizing factor. I replied that no, quite the contrary, it is part of an unstable process - a vicious feedback loop, since the more esoteric "financial instruments" that are put to use, the more volatility and unpredictabilty one gets in international economics. He hadn't at all thought about it that way, even if this is his full-time occupation. Or should we perhaps say: Just _because_ it is his profession? Trond Andresen
