Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Are Senators Profiting Off Insider Information?
The Financial Times reports here that United States Senators did twelve percent better in the stock market than the rest of us did, as measured by market averages. The business professor who compiled this data was "very surprised" and said that "the results suggest that Senators knew when to buy their common stocks and when to sell."
It distorts the financial marketplace when anyone uses information not available to regular investors to reap extraordinary profits. It's particularly troubling if the people who we elect to create a stable and fair marketplace are themselves distorting it for personal gain. Politicians could avoid any chance of wrong doing by placing their personal funds into blind trusts while they are in office.
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The Financial Times reports here that United States Senators did twelve percent better in the stock market than the rest of us did, as measured by market averages. The business professor who compiled this data was "very surprised" and said that "the results suggest that Senators knew when to buy their common stocks and when to sell."
It distorts the financial marketplace when anyone uses information not available to regular investors to reap extraordinary profits. It's particularly troubling if the people who we elect to create a stable and fair marketplace are themselves distorting it for personal gain. Politicians could avoid any chance of wrong doing by placing their personal funds into blind trusts while they are in office.
