• AA5B@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Why should they be stopped by the government? That assumes the stock market should be logical and predictable but why should that be true? It’s all speculation, just a step above gambling, and people should be allowed to.

    Tesla is a great example. Its stock has never been at an expected level for their revenue or profit. It’s all speculation about their potential to disrupt the car market (which they have), and predictions like 50% growth per year. Even now, self-driving and artificial intelligence seem a bit far fetched to most of us, but if they happen will be very disruptive.

    But yes , politicians should have required ethics standards, including banning insider training. The rest of us have to: how does it make sense for our leaders to have lower ethical standards than everyone else?

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Maybe, but hopefully the existing controls will prevent that from happening again …. Unless overzealous attempts at “reducing regulations” break those. There were quite a few factors around the Great Depression but consider controls like:

        • “circuit breakers”, automatically halt trading when a stock or the overall market drops too quickly
        • “qualified investors” are criteria you must meet for the riskiest investments, basically that you can handle the loss
        • bank requirements for capital, risk, so less likely to collapse
        • bank rescues - Lemmy likes to complain about rescuing banks instead of people, but bank collapses during a crisis are what can push the crash off the deep end

        Also the overall size and complexity of the modern investment industry should make it much less likely for any one type of investment to drive a general crash.

        • Venator@lemmy.nz
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          10 hours ago
          • “qualified investors” are criteria you must meet for the riskiest investments, basically that you can handle the loss

          I’m surprised you’re not calling that a government overreach considering your previous comment.

          Do you think the current government controls are working and shouldn’t be changed at all?

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            We haven’t had a real depression in 100 years, so something is working. Sure, we have recessions periodically and some are worse than others, but as long as it’s relatively limited.

            I think that a lot of regulations were put in place for a reason. Whether they work for that reason or not, it would be better to understand the reason before blindly removing regulations

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            2 hours ago

            None of them have come close to the severity of the Great Depression. We’ll never control all instabilities, the important part is limiting their severity

            Yes, I’ve been affected by several of these. I’ve gotten laid off during downturns. I’ve been affected by high interest rates. I’ve been affected by unattainable housing. But at least it wasn’t worse

    • SoftTeeth@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      It should be forced to be logical and predictable because Capitalists have made it so the stock market is the only way to really save for retirement.

      Our society and economy shouldn’t be a fun game for the whales to win at the expense of the rest of us.