QOTD: Doug Bandow

From Cato scholar Doug Bandow, writing in the Orange County Register:

As applied, the insider-trading laws push in only one direction, punishing action. Yet a smart investor also knows when not to buy and sell. It is virtually impossible to punish someone for not acting, even if he or she did so in reliance on inside information. Thus, the government has an enforcement bias against action, whether buying or selling. That is unlikely to improve investment decisions or market efficiency.