[bob_denard]

Quote:

Last week, Europe hurriedly offered Greece a new bailout deal … the Greek parliament rushed to pass new Draconian reform laws … the German parliament did the same … and the ECB promptly dished out more money to keep the

country’s banks afloat.

Nearly everyone — lenders, borrowers and politicians — did exactly what they vowed never to do.

Why?

Most people think it’s because they want to defend the euro at all costs. True.

But there’s more to all this than meets the eye: There are hidden time bombs that are driving all players down the same old path of more bailouts and debt pile-ups.

These hidden time bombs have a name: Derivatives.

And they have a number: $630.1 trillion.

That’s right. According to the Bank of International Statistics, at yearend last year, the world’s total notional value of derivatives traded over the counter (outside of organized exchanges) was $630.1 trillion.

That’s about eight times the gross domestic product of the entire planet.

It’s nearly 47 times the total amount of mortgages outstanding in the United States.

And it’s over 34 times greater than the already-huge U.S. national debt.

So here’s the hidden timebomb story in a nutshell:

Hidden Time Bombs Behind Greece Bailout ? Money and Markets - Financial Advice | Financial Investment Newsletter