September 27, 2007 (LPAC)--In an op ed. in the Washington Post entitled "Markets' World of Worry," columnist David Ignatius quotes Herbert Stein, former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers: "If something is `unsustainable,' that means it won't be sustained." He then writes: "You want to believe that Bernanke & Co. will keep the whole loopy system going. But then you read that there are now half a quadrillion dollars in outstanding derivatives contracts, some of them instruments so complex that most CEOs don't understand them. Yes, I know: Those are nominal amounts, and the money at risk is smaller. So let's say it's just 1 percent of the total, or $5 trillion. That's more than a third of the U.S. economy. Tell me that doesn't make you a wee bit nervous."