Melamed transformed the Merc into the first modern derivatives exchange.

Evidence

The “Mere” had been Chicago’s junior exchange. The Board of Trade, with its glorious art deco skyscraper towering over LaSalle Street, dominated futures on grain, the Midwest’s primary commodity. The Mere traded futures on humbler products when Melamed joined it, eggs and onions. As Melamed’s influence grew, he took the exchange in a new direction. Trading futures on currencies, on Treasury bills, on “Eurodollar” interest rates, and on stock indices, it was the first modern financial derivatives exchange. By the mid 1980s, it was central to global finance. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 17

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes what the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was and its rise from eggs/onions futures to financial derivatives.