http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/archives/2004/10/less-less-make-more Ben Hyde Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:18:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/archives/2004/10/less-less-make-more/comment-page-1#comment-330 Ben Hyde Thu, 21 Oct 2004 17:47:59 +0000 http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/archives/2004/10/less-less-make-more/#comment-330 Brad DeLong http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2004-2_archives/000420.html takes a stab at the pricing issues; but he comes at it from the point of view that supply and demand are unstable or unpredictable and so you get price spikes. I'm more interested in what happens as regulatory dry rot set in and bad actors come to play. Brad DeLong http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2004-2_archives/000420.html takes a stab at the pricing issues; but he comes at it from the point of view that supply and demand are unstable or unpredictable and so you get price spikes. I’m more interested in what happens as regulatory dry rot set in and bad actors come to play.

]]> http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/archives/2004/10/less-less-make-more/comment-page-1#comment-331 Ben Hyde Sat, 16 Oct 2004 14:35:37 +0000 http://enthusiasm.cozy.org/archives/2004/10/less-less-make-more/#comment-331 The bad guy who decides to manipulate a market from the high volume low price mode into the low volume high price mode needs two things, means and motive. The regulator is just one means. I suspect that if the motive was large enough then the bad guy would be careful to obscure his trail. Having the means in one country and the benefit in another be useful to the conspircy. This obscuring of means and motive makes it harder to track down the evil doer - and more fun for the conspiracy mined. If the government charged with doing so has as it's default presumption that regulators are nothing but trouble and markets are in always wise and insightful then the chance of any intervention or investigation falls and the probability of bad actors rises. At that point the government becomes a coconspirator. The bad guy who decides to manipulate a market from the high volume low price mode into the low volume high price mode needs two things, means and motive. The regulator is just one means. I suspect that if the motive was large enough then the bad guy would be careful to obscure his trail. Having the means in one country and the benefit in another be useful to the conspircy. This obscuring of means and motive makes it harder to track down the evil doer – and more fun for the conspiracy mined. If the government charged with doing so has as it’s default presumption that regulators are nothing but trouble and markets are in always wise and insightful then the chance of any intervention or investigation falls and the probability of bad actors rises. At that point the government becomes a coconspirator.

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