An study in the journal Business and Politics last week reported that the investments of members of the House of Representatives outperformed those of the average investor by 55 basis points per month, or 6 percent annually. It concluded that lawmakers are taking advantage of inside information to make significant profits, engaging in conduct that would send a Gordon Gekko or Martha Stewart to jail.
“We find strong evidence that members of the House have some type of non-public information which they use for personal gain,” the four researchers who authored “Abnormal Returns From the Common Stock Investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives” wrote. Continue reading