--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the 1990s onward, the financial…" description: "\"From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast array of instruments designed to separate investors from their money, financial derivatives ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/john-l-casti-24628_complexity_from-the-1990s-onward-the-financial-sect_6682.png" --- # From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast… ![“From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast array of instruments designed to separate investors from their money, financial derivatives of an ever-increasing level of complexity. At some point, this complexity reached a point where even the creators of the derivatives themselves…” quote by John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/john-l-casti-24628_complexity_from-the-1990s-onward-the-financial-sect_6682.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/john-l-casti-24628_complexity_from-the-1990s-onward-the-financial-sect_6682.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/john-l-casti-24628_complexity_from-the-1990s-onward-the-financial-sect_6682.png) > “From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast array of instruments designed to separate investors from their money, financial derivatives of an ever-increasing level of complexity. At some point, this complexity reached a point where even the creators of the derivatives themselves didn't understand them.” [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that financial innovation can become so opaque that even its architects lose grasp of its risk, leading to systemic vulnerability. **In simple terms:** Complex finance can outpace comprehension. Key Takeaway Beware of opaque financial engineering. Themes Financial complexity Risk opacity Systemic fragility Innovation limits Mood Cautious Skeptical Type Cautionary Analytical When to use this quote - Regulatory oversight - Investment decision-making - Risk management - Product design Key Concepts Derivatives Market structure Cognitive limits Practical Applications - Design transparent financial products - Implement robust stress testing Questions to Reflect On - How can regulators ensure transparency? - What safeguards can prevent knowledge loss? A Different Perspective Complex instruments can also provide valuable hedging when properly understood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complexity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Derivatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/derivatives/) [Derivatives Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/derivatives-didn-318895/) [Financial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/financial/) [Financial Derivatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/financial-derivatives-318894/) [Financial Sector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/financial-sector-318896/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Investors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investors/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Separate Investors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separate-investors-318897/) ## Related quotes > [ Inappropriate macro economic policies in some economies, characterised by \[a\] low savings rate and high consumption \[and\] failure of financial supervision and regulation to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wen-jiabao/inappropriate-macro-economic-policies-in-some-economies-characterised/) [Wen Jiabao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wen-jiabao/) > [By far the most significant event in finance during the past decade has been the extraordinary development and expansion of financial derivatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/by-far-the-most-significant-event-in-finance-during-the-past-decade/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [It seems superfluous to constrain trading in some of the newer derivatives and other innovative financial contracts of the past decade. The worst have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/it-seems-superfluous-to-constrain-trading-in-some-of-the-newer/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Derivatives serve practically no purpose except to enrich bankers through opaque pricing and to deceive investors through off-the-balance-sheet accounting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-rickards/derivatives-serve-practically-no-purpose-except-to-enrich-bankers/) [James Rickards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-rickards/) > [Regulatory reform must move beyond limiting the damage that the financial sector can do and ensure that the sector genuinely serves society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stiglitz/regulatory-reform-must-move-beyond-limiting-the-damage-that-the/) [Joseph Stiglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stiglitz/) > [People need the financial sector to be safe; people also need the financial sector to go through a massive phase of innovation. That means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taavet-hinrikus/people-need-the-financial-sector-to-be-safe-people-also-need-the/) [Taavet Hinrikus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taavet-hinrikus/) > [I think there's no question but what the tail end of the Bush administration, Bush-Cheney administration, that we took steps specifically geared to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/i-think-there-s-no-question-but-what-the-tail-end-of-the-bush/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [When you've got a economy in which 40 percent of economic growth is happening in the financial sector, that turns out that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/when-you-ve-got-a-economy-in-which-40-percent-of-economic-growth-is/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I grew up in Monaco, and in that environment going into the financial sector was the obvious choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herve-falciani/i-grew-up-in-monaco-and-in-that-environment-going-into-the-financial/) [Herve Falciani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herve-falciani/) > [It is clear to me that the financial sector, including CNBC, loves central banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-faber/it-is-clear-to-me-that-the-financial-sector-including-cnbc-loves/) [Marc Faber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-faber/) > [In a world with weak aggregate demand, countries are engaging in a futile competition for a greater share of it. In the process, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-rajan/in-a-world-with-weak-aggregate-demand-countries-are-engaging-in-a/) [Raghuram Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-rajan/) > [It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/it-is-no-exaggeration-to-say-that-since-the-1980s-much-of-the-global/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [The financial sector is vital to the economy. A well-functioning financial sector promotes job creation, innovation, and inclusive economic growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/the-financial-sector-is-vital-to-the-economy-a-well-functioning/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [One of the lessons that I hope people will take out is the extreme dependence simply on the financial sector is really dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-enriquez/one-of-the-lessons-that-i-hope-people-will-take-out-is-the-extreme/) [Juan Enriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-enriquez/) > [The United States lived on borrowed money for too long, inflating its financial sector unnecessarily and neglecting its small and mid-sized industrial companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-schauble/the-united-states-lived-on-borrowed-money-for-too-long-inflating-its/) [Wolfgang Schauble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-schauble/) ## More by John L. Casti > [We see an ever-increasing move toward inter and trans- disciplinary attacks upon problems in the real world ... The system scientist has a central…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/we-see-an-ever-increasing-move-toward-inter-and-trans-disciplinary/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [When the next big problem comes online, be it the Euro crisis, nuclear proliferation, an overstretched Internet, a killer flu, or any of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/when-the-next-big-problem-comes-online-be-it-the-euro-crisis-nuclear/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [What distinguishes a mathematical model from, say, a poem, a song, a portrait or any other kind of "model," is that the mathematical model…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/what-distinguishes-a-mathematical-model-from-say-a-poem-a-song-a/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [My own guess is that quite quickly the machine intelligence will start dreaming machine dreams and thinking machine thoughts, both of which would totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/my-own-guess-is-that-quite-quickly-the-machine-intelligence-will/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [Resilience, timing, adaptation - these are the three pillars upon which the emergent properties of interacting systems rest. When the systems are the economy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/resilience-timing-adaptation-these-are-the-three-pillars-upon-which/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [I think that in the immediate aftermath of a superhuman machine intelligence revealing itself, most people would feel very threatened but take solace in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/i-think-that-in-the-immediate-aftermath-of-a-superhuman-machine/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [I don't think the emergence of a superhuman intelligence would be at all catastrophic but much more likely to be beneficial - just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/i-don-t-think-the-emergence-of-a-superhuman-intelligence-would-be-at/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [I do not believe that there is any person, method, or tool that can consistently and reliably predict specific human events, X- or otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/i-do-not-believe-that-there-is-any-person-method-or-tool-that-can/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [The process of globalization has now interconnected almost everything ranging from financial markets to transport networks to communication systems in a huge system that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/the-process-of-globalization-has-now-interconnected-almost-everything/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [The global financial system consists of firms in the financial services sector - banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and the like - and various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/the-global-financial-system-consists-of-firms-in-the-financial/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [If the group has a negative social mood, believing that tomorrow will be worse than today, the bias goes in the opposite direction. Instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/if-the-group-has-a-negative-social-mood-believing-that-tomorrow-will/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [Trying to solve the problem by creating more debt is analogous to trying to stop being an alcoholic by going on a bender down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/trying-to-solve-the-problem-by-creating-more-debt-is-analogous-to/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [A good analogy is stretching a rubber band. You can stretch and stretch and even feel the tension increase in the muscles in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/a-good-analogy-is-stretching-a-rubber-band-you-can-stretch-and/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [I believe is that we can forecast the "changing landscape of context," and thus get insight into when we are entering the danger zone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/i-believe-is-that-we-can-forecast-the-changing-landscape-of-context/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) > [Reality is a wave function traveling both backward and forward in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/reality-is-a-wave-function-traveling-both-backward-and-forward-in-time/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) [Explore all 24 John L. Casti quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) ## More Complexity quotes > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Being actors we are dealing with the beauty and complexity of human confusion, no? And we are always trying to get answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/being-actors-we-are-dealing-with-the-beauty-and-complexity-of-human/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [The complexity increases exponentially when you try and combine two companies that both need to be restructured in their own right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/the-complexity-increases-exponentially-when-you-try-and-combine-two/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [We're in this strange age where we can't say 'I love you,' at least not sincerely. It's something where, if you simplify it, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoffer-boe/we-re-in-this-strange-age-where-we-can-t-say-i-love-you-at-least-not/) [Christoffer Boe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoffer-boe/) > [I've realized that life is indeed full of contradictions. Sometimes its crazy to be sane.You need to fall to fly. People suffer because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-realized-that-life-is-indeed-full-of-contradictions-sometimes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Calvin: The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action. Once you are informed, you start seeing complexities and shades of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-the-more-you-know-the-harder-it-is-to-take-decisive-action/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [As we get more transparent with data sets about infrastructure and systems management, I have a feeling we'll see big changes in how we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-koblin/as-we-get-more-transparent-with-data-sets-about-infrastructure-and/) [Aaron Koblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-koblin/) > [Show me a person without prejudice of any kind on any subject and I'll show you someone who may be admirably virtuous but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/show-me-a-person-without-prejudice-of-any-kind-on-any-subject-and-i/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [We're all complex human beings, and if some of that complexity shows through, I think it's advantageous for the movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-de-bont/we-re-all-complex-human-beings-and-if-some-of-that-complexity-shows/) [Jan de Bont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-de-bont/) > [The base of artistic pursuit is ambivalence and complexity. And that's what I try to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-perez/the-base-of-artistic-pursuit-is-ambivalence-and-complexity-and-that-s/) [Fernando Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-perez/) > [If you want to gain market share at your competitor's expense - look for a customer that's suffering from too much complexity and simplify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-cohan/if-you-want-to-gain-market-share-at-your-competitor-s-expense-look/) [Peter Cohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-cohan/) > [What music is better able to do than language is to represent the complexity of human emotional states.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-levitin/what-music-is-better-able-to-do-than-language-is-to-represent-the/) [Daniel Levitin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-levitin/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) [Browse all 1,258 Complexity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast array of instruments designed to separate investors from their money, financial derivatives of an ever-increasing level of complexity. 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