This paper examines how speculative futures trading affects commodity markets in terms of price impacts, volatility, and market quality. Contrary to the popular belief that speculators are responsible for the recent commodity price fluctuation, my analysis finds no evidence that speculators...

The term 'financialization' describes the phenomenon that commodity contracts are traded for purely financial reasons and not for motives rooted in the real economy. Recently, financialization has been made responsible for causing adverse welfare effects especially for low-income and low-wealth...

The term `financialization' describes the phenomenon that commodity contracts are traded for purely financial reasons and not for motives rooted in the real economy. Recently, financialization has been made responsible for causing adverse welfare effects especially for low-income and low-wealth...

Dieser Text wurde für die Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (bpb) verfasst. Er stellt in stark geraffter Thesenform dar, dass und warum die gegen Indexfonds gerichteten Vor-würfe haltlos sind: Indexfonds sind keine Hungermacher. Die im letzten Jahrzehnt zu beobachtenden starken...