July 29, 2003
-
Ok, this should be filed under WHAT FUCKING COUNTRY DO I LIVE IN?
Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned
Mon Jul 28, 7:46 PM ET
By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is setting up a stock-market style system in which investors would bet on terror attacks, assassinations and other events in the Middle East. Defense officials hope to gain intelligence and useful predictions while investors who guessed right would win profits.
Two Democratic senators demanded Monday the project be stopped before investors begin registering this week. "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record), D-Ore., said.
[..]
The market would work this way. Investors would buy and sell futures contracts — essentially a series of predictions about what they believe might happen in the Mideast. Holder of a futures contract that came true would collect the proceeds of investors who put money into the market but predicted wrong.
[..]
"Can you imagine if another country set up a betting parlor so that people could go in ... and bet on the assassination of an American political figure, or the overthrow of this institution or that institution?" [Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan] said.
Comments (4)
Al Qaeda could finance its terrorist acts by betting they will occur. Suicide bombers will be sports heroes.
dingus, that is a GREAT idea!
Hub read this to me last night and I couldn't believe it. we thought it was a hoax. I'm still not sure.
hmm. do you think some underground version of this existed already, and somebody won big on sept 11? the way i see it, the only winners are the arms companies.
it's too absurd to not be true.
Comments are closed.