Finance & economics | Buttonwood

Credit-default swaps are an unfairly maligned derivative

They are back in the headlines. That is not entirely bad news

Vultures, rats and maggots are often the focus of disgust, less because of anything for which they can be blamed, and more because of the conditions with which they are associated. Death, disease and squalor carry a stigma that is hard to shake. Something similar is true of credit-default swaps, financial instruments that make headlines during market turmoil and economic misery.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The importance of maggots”

The world China wants

From the October 15th 2022 edition

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