A market, says Melamed, "is more than a bright idea. It takes planning, calculation, arm-twisting, and tenacity to get a market up and going. Even when it's chugging along, it has to be cranked and pushed." (Melamed and Tamarkin 1996, p. 295) Even once the Merc's S&P index futures were launched (on April 21, 1982) the political work of market construction did not end. Financial derivatives exchanges are subject to virtuous and vicious cycles: if trading volumes are high, exchanges are liquid and attractive places to trade, further enhancing volume; if volume starts to slip, liquidity can dry up and exchanges become fatally unattractive.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 773