The lesson of history is that you do not get a sustained economic recovery as long as the financial system is in crisis.

The financial crisis appears to be mostly behind us, and the economy seems to have stabilized and is expanding again.

Developments in financial markets can have broad economic effects felt by many outside the markets.

Both humanity's capacity to innovate and the incentives to innovate are greater today than at any other time in history.

The crisis and recession have led to very low interest rates, it is true, but these events have also destroyed jobs, hamstrung economic growth and led to sharp declines in the values of many homes and businesses.

Indeed, in general, healthy investment returns cannot be sustained in a weak economy, and of course it is difficult to save for retirement or other goals without the income from a job.

With respect to their safety, derivatives, for the most part, are traded among very sophisticated financial institutions and individuals who have considerable incentive to understand them and to use them properly.