"Derivatives Trading" and the lack of effective controls?

[SHRED]

Buffett also renewed his criticism of derivatives trading.

"It's not right that hundreds of thousands of jobs are being eliminated, that entire industrial sectors in the real economy are being wiped out by financial bets even though the sectors are actually in good health."

Buffett complained about the lack of effective controls.

"That's the problem," he said. "You can't steer it, you can't regulate it anymore. You can't get the genie back in the bottle."

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL2422759120080524


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I know very little about "derivatives trading".
Doesn't this refer to commodities markets like petroleum and food?
Is the "lack of effective controls", that Buffet speaks about, due to the weakening of protections put in place during FDR's administration via the Commodity Exchange Act under the New Deal in 1936?
Wasn't this act created in response to the lack of regulations that set the stage for the stock market crash and Great Depression that followed in the early 1900's?
Who are the main players and which political party is most responsible for these lack of effective controls?
We know that Bill Clinton signed into law the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.
How big of a role does that legislation play in this current situation?

Commodity Exchange Act of 1936
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_Exchange_Act

Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_Futures_Modernization_Act_of_2000

Shouldn't the answer to these questions be common knowledge among our citizenry?
Where is the "forth estate" (the press, mass media, etc..) in letting the people know who is responsible for this mess we are suffering under?
Why does it take research and digging to find this out? Something this big, that affects everyone, needs to be exposed for what it is.

Responsibility needs to be placed, blame needs to occur, and then solutions need to be aired in public.
I consider myself a bit of a "wonk" when it comes to political issues but I am still digging for understanding.
The average Jane or Joe off the street, I would imagine, is clueless on something this vital and that to me is borderline criminal.

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[MannyGoldstein]

1. Derivatives Are, Effectively, Bets Made With Borrowed Money

It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the bottom line. Could involve commodities or anything else.

For example, a hedge fund can use a $1 million to borrow $10 million, then invest the $10 million. If the investment does well, their profit will be 10x higher than it would have been if they invested only the $1 million. If the investment does poorly, they can lose much more than the $1 million they invested.

Right now, $100s of trillion is at risk worldwide through derivatives. This is a staggering amount of money.

[slipslidingaway]

2. K&R n/t