How to construct a class diagram?

Is it possible to construct a fairly complete, high-level diagram of today's financial world that a layman could understand?

• I admit I have a ready answer, No.  The number of financial instruments available and their myriad uses in combination form a game that only the experienced and extremely wealthy get to play. The tools available range from equity in its various forms, and debt and all the instruments available to move it, hedge it, and avoid it. Futures contracts themselves come in such a variety as to boggle the mind.  Then we have insurance of various things under various guises such as AIG labeling junk debt as good stuff just by saying they would be good for it. And try explaining Quantitative Easing.  I'm not sure I can separate the wheat from the chaff on that story, myself, and I have done a lot of reading and thinking about the role of money in our lives, where it comes from, how it gets distributed, etc. One of the best and most coherent sources I've found are the writings of John Kenneth Galbraith.  In his various writings, he debunks much of the hype about finance's productive role in the economy, and exposes many of the games the wealthy individuals and businesses play to maximize their returns. For shock value, a diagram of shadow banking and the various roles that firms play is in this Federal Reserve report: http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr458.pdf The diagram is on page three, and needs to be enlarged greatly to read the print.

• Answer:

  I don't think one could be constructed to explain all (or several) to a layman. Perhaps several different ones to explain different concepts separately.