**OT**
Freeus, you are my favorite Libertarian!
HOWEVER, read any history of the kinds of blatant stock manipulations that went on during the twenties, and the amount of money these guys bilked from unsuspecting investors. This stuff has been well-documented. And what kind of teeth does a private watch-dog agency have?
Do you really believe you would have access to 10-k's were they not required? The very existence of the SEC and similar agencies makes capital flows more fluid, and that is, of course, the lifeblood of capitalism. The fact that potentially fraudulent securities transactions are subject to government scrutiny and punishment makes them less likely. The result is that people like you and me feel more comfortable in investing. That decreases the cost of capital to startups (IPOs) which in turn increase the entrepreneurial spirit.
Some years ago a potentially exciting investment in France came to my attention. The more I studied it the better they looked. But when I started investigating the financial statements I discovered that the regulatory mechanisms is France were not nearly as stringent as they are here. The result was that an additional and unnecessary layer of uncertainty was introduced, because the company did not have the equivalent of our "red herrings" or 10-ks. The result was that I passed on an investment that I would have jumped on in the US. That's just one simple example.
You are certainly correct in you fears of big government squelching individual freedoms. But that is not the kind of thing I am talking about. If you think I would defend the arbitrary, confiscatory powers of the government, you're fighting with the wrong pussycat.
But for better or worse, I do like the fact that physicians are licensed. And I do like the fact that the government inspects airplanes. And I like the fact that a local government will shut down a restaurant for maintaining unsanitary conditions (can you say hepatitis).
Freeus, the examples abound. The problem is that the exceptions almost invariably take the limelight. Notice that a lot of folks were upset with DOJ in their suit against Microsoft. But there was a second branch of government (the courts) that threw out a good portion of Justice's case. Who was running around praising the court system as a positive example of government action.
TTFN,
CTC |
