Australian economist Justin Wolfers came down on Congressional stock trading, calling it “absurd” and a “weird flaw” that needs to be addressed.
What Happened: On Wednesday, Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan shared a short snippet on X from his recent appearance on MSNBC, where he criticized the questionable ethics of Congressional Representatives actively trading in stocks.
“Most [business] journalists have to divest themselves of any stock [holdings],” he explains, to avoid the risk of “front-running” their own reporting.
Wolfers points out that Presidential advisors, and even Presidents, have to follow the same rules. Yet, somehow, “there's this weird thing where Congressional Representatives are allowed to trade stocks,” even while receiving “top secret briefings,” which he calls “simply absurd.”
The Professor said that it is “absolutely clear they’re using their inside knowledge to get better returns.”
Wolfers said in the video that this is not “how we want to pay our Congressmen.” The economist said this makes trust in representatives “crumble.” He ended by saying this was an “obvious flaw” that needed to be addressed and this “shouldn’t be partisan.”
Photo Courtesy: Framalicious on Shutterstock.com
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