Insider Trading by Representative Spencer Bachus

Insider trading (buying and selling securities based on non-public information) is illegal for most people.  But, insider trading is not illegal for members of Congress.  Of course not.  They are the ones who write the laws.

Here is a story about insider trading done by Rep. Spencer Bachus, when he was ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.  Information for the story was taken from Peter Schweizer’s recent book, Throw Them All Out.  The story reports that Bachus made dozens of insider trades, which are legal for members of Congress, but illegal for those of us who do not write our own laws.

The story speaks for itself.  But I wouldn’t mind if more people heard about it.

Randall G. Holcombe is Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. His Independent books include Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (edited with Benjamin Powell); and Writing Off Ideas: Taxation, Foundations, and Philanthropy in America .
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