A perspective that crossed me today ..

Milton Friedman supports insider trading. I didnt know that! He argues it helps in faster and effective dissemination of information. Lets face it, insider trading is difficult to define, tougher to prove and almost impossible to prevent. Come to think of it, even "publicly available" bits of information (perhaps we can call it "outsider information"?) doesnt percolate in the same quantity, quality or time among the populace and very often, investment decisions are made on 'market sentiments' which reflect neither a firm's capabilities nor its decisions -- meaning, investors invest in a particular firm without even knowing the firm's real potential in the short and long term. And in such instances, when they do invest based on a firm's immediate potential -- Daddy-o says its insider trading! Perhaps that bit of information was their competitive advantage. If insider trading is called thievery then heres what Ayn Rand feels, she says the concept of a government is itself nothing but legitimised robbery and adds that altruism is nothing but an excuse for power-grabbing later on. Some cynical rationalism, that?

Regarding the issue of "privileged information" let me make a bold statement, most of the top firms even on Wall Street trade (amply) on non-public information exchanged between employees and this is a fact. They'd vehemently refuse and argue that it is not insider trading, and so we will humbly respect their words for whatever that's worth! But the fact remains and those in the know cannot deny it. Okay, be that as it may, now so many starved paragons of morality are getting ready to feast on Mr. Freshmeat (Raj Rajaratnam). I've heard that only when the tide goes low you know whose been swimming naked - Raj was caught unawares when the tides dipped. This does not mean that he was skinny dipping all the time, and neither does it mean that the others were fully clothed all the time. It merely means that at the particular instant when the regulators lowered the tide Raj was the first fish on the net and desperately trying to cover up. Nothing less and nothing more .. and so he's serving his 'term' for what that's worth.

If equality is what the authorities are aiming at -- let me tell you that equality can never be achieved. In the days of yore physical strength separated the men from the boys, in the current era knowledge separates the haves from the have nots - and for the next couple of years this discrimination of individuals based on knowledge will continue. While we all act as if we're striving towards some utopian social goal of equality, it is fairly evident and visible that each of us is only striving to first fill our own stomachs, then that of those around us and the circle broadens to reach those far away - if we reach that far! Inequality will be there, its sad, but its true. Lets put in our two-cents to lessen the impact.