There is a single number at the heart and core of the world’s financial system. This number sets the interest rate for a whopping $800 trillion of financial products, including your car loan, your adjustable-rate mortgage, the student loans you are still paying off, your credit card, any personal loans you have, and even your savings account at the bank. And even though you probably don’t deal with hundreds of trillions’ worth of complex financial instruments, like swaps and futures, they too are linked to this number, and they affect you.
The number is called libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate.
