An entertaining effort to put our current financial systems into perspective
10/30/2000
"Is the globalisation of finance steering us toward heaven or hell?" ask Deutsche Bank executives Briys and de Varenne. "Ought we to be afraid of the new economic system that we live in? Should we fear the financial markets and their infamous derivatives? … [H]ave we, like Frankenstein, given birth to creatures which can no longer be controlled and which are a permanent threat to our future?" Not surprisingly, the two financiers are sympathetic to their craft. Using parables with such unlikely characters as a rhinoceros, a thirteenth-century Genoese fisherman, and Geronimo, they combat common fears about abuse of power and excessive risk in today's global blend of high finance, technology, and free markets. It's a cunning and entertaining effort, putting our current financial systems' drama and high volume into perspective as an effective response to risk rather than insidious automated invader.