Around the World on a Trillion Dollars a Day

The last 20 years have witnessed a revolution in international finance. From old investment tools such as futures and options, currency traders have developed new derivatives markets with awesome powers, and in 1992 George Soros alone made a billion dollars in a few days by helping to force Britain out of the ERM. More recently a single derivatives trader brought about the collapse of Baring Brothers, one of the world's oldest and most respected banks. Currency traders have broken down the walls that used to separate national economies and financial markets, and gained the power to judge governments and punish them financially. This book paints a picture of this extraordinary world, in which over a trillion dollars are traded daily - more than the value of all the commodities and manufactures traded in the so-called "real" economy.