Is there social value in shorting?

11 points

16 years ago

The value of investing (going long) in a business makes sense to me on a social level: it's people putting faith in other people that they will offer a good business to the market that will help them make a return on their investment. Even more simply put: it's people having faith in other people.

Shorting on the other hand seems to make a mockery of society: it shows the behavior of some people who do not have faith in people.

I think Germany is doing the right thing by banning shorting not only to prevent further liabilities but also to secure faith (even though the press and experts don't seem to think so):

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-25/german-short-ban-drops-bomb-on-regulators-lawyers-update3-.html

I'd love to know what other people think!

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