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Terror futures market back in business
A U.S. government plan to create a market in which traders could bet on the likelihood of certain events in the Middle East has been revived and is scheduled to start trading next spring. The market, called the Policy Analysis Market (PAM), will allow traders to buy and sell contracts on specific events, including terrorist attacks, assassinations and overthrows of regimes... Heated public criticism forced the Pentagon to end its association with the project, but its Web site, which was idle for several months, now has an announcement saying it will be open for business in March 2004. The Pentagonâs partners in the venture would have been San Diego-based market technology firm Net Exchange and the Economist Intelligence Unit, publisher of the Economist. The EIU is no longer involved, and Net Exchange is alone in pursuing the venture, according to its president, Charles Polk... Polk said Net Exchange would initially limit the amount of money traders could invest in the market, so that people wonât be profiting from violence or upheaval in the region. Whatâs more, the futures contracts would be based on general questions, such as the likelihood that the King of Jordan will be overthrown at some point during a the second quarter of 2004, for example, rather than on specific acts or events, which could lend themselves to manipulation by terrorists. "There are no financial incentives for nefarious activities," Polk said...
Posted by: Rafael 2003-11-17 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=21366 |