Law Commons^™

Insider Trading And The Myth Of Market Confidence, John P. Anderson

Journal Articles

This Article challenges the validity of the market-confidence claim as a justification for the regulation of insider trading on two grounds. First, insofar as it relies on a sociopsychological claim-that most investors perceive insider trading as economically harmful or morally wrong-it is subject to the problem of false consciousness (i.e., the psychological claim could be true though the shared belief is demonstrably false). Second, even if the problem of false consciousness is set aside, the market-confidence argument's empirical claims of a chilling effect among potential investors must be proven, not simply assumed.