Base jumping sees participants launch themselves from a surface and free fall from high altitudes before opening a parachute.

BBC: Mother's grief at base jump death of Gary Harbird

Base jumping sees participants launch themselves from a surface and free fall from predominantly low altitudes before opening a parachute.

BBC: Devon base jumper Gary Harbird dies in Switzerland

But these are static measures ill-suited to crises, when prices fall so fast that, by the time the protection is activated, it is already too late: the financial equivalent of opening a parachute too close to the ground.

ECONOMIST: When the sea dries up