Sometimes it can be hard to see when something so dangerous is lurking around, like mad-cow disease or other pandemics. However, when it comes to derivatives, there is no mistaking how dangerous these things are. Billionaire Warren Buffet "has made his disdain for derivatives—a class that includes the credit default swaps that helped exacerbate the 2008 financial crisis—well known. He called these things “financial weapons of mass destruction” in 2003. He again reiterated his concerns about the contracts during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting this year, calling the group of complex derivatives a “potential time bomb” on the balance sheets of banks that is vulnerable to economic shocks”.