Pope Calls Derivatives Market a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’
- Vatican says CDS ‘gambling’ is ethically ‘unacceptable’
- Pope has previously criticized ‘absolute power’ of finance
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Warren Buffett once called them “financial weapons of mass destruction.” Now Pope Francis, of all people, is taking aim at derivatives.
In a sweeping critique of global finance released by the Vatican on Thursday, the Holy See singled out derivatives including credit-default swaps for particular scorn. “A ticking time bomb,” the Vatican called them. The unusual rebuke -- derivatives rarely reach the level of religious doctrine -- is in keeping with Francis’s skeptical view of unbridled global capitalism.