Sharon Brown-Hruska, chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, cannot be accused of having a theoretical, ‘ivory tower’ view of markets, despite her background in academia. “I don’t have a pie-in-the-sky outlook – I talk to traders and investors, to take note of what’s going on,” she says.

She has a deep understanding of derivatives, having taught about them for much of her career. And she makes it her mission to educate politicians and the media as well as students. “When I go