Most derivative contracts are related to credit and debt. The reason there is so many derivative contracts is that there is so much debt. The CIA put total world cross border debt at $69 Trillion for 2011:
The Economist puts total derivatives outstanding at $700 Trillion, so for every $1 of global GDP there is $10 of derivatives. This sounds crazy, but is not inconsistent with other markets. Global forex trading is running at 50 times global trade and the turnover in stocks is 20 times asset values. That derivatives are 10 to 1 versus global debt should not be much of a surprise
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