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A comment on Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress. Parent comment

Re:Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress by tshaddox on Thursday April 15, 2021 @02:06PM (#26824073)
Sure, speculating on insider information on public markets is a great way for anyone to make a lot of money. It's also highly illegal, although there does seem to be some fairly prominent views that allowing insider trading would actually help get relevant information priced into the public markets.

But even if you're one of those proponents of insider trading, surely this is clearly different and worse than that, because prominent politicians surely have some power to influence winners and losers.

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Re:Unusual Stock Trading by Whales in US Congress by stereolambda on Thursday April 15, 2021 @04:14PM (#26825576)
Well, the laws around insider trading and similar practices changed throughout history. Many things used to be considered okay, look up Joseph P. Kennedy's biography for example.

You are right that if the officials actually cared about companies, it would not make sense. I was thinking more like hedge fund-like cold speculation. As people guessed correctly, the point is to make the job very appealing but with little ties to powerful interests. Of course is not a serious scheme, but I'm amused by the concept I guess.

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