Is it shocking that Senator Durbin used secret information to rip off ordinary investors right before the market collapsed in October, 2008? Well, it's a cruel abuse of power, but to tell the truth it isn't that shocking. Studies have shown that Senators' investments regularly beat the market by 12%!
The study found that during the boom years of 1993-98, a majority of US Senators were trading stocks - and beating the market by 12 percentage points a year on average. By comparison, corporate insiders beat the market by 5 percent, and typical households underperformed by 1.4 percent.Financial experts interviewed for this story say the senators' collective achievement is a statistical stunner, too big to be a mere coincidence.
In order to achieve these results, crooked dealings like Senator Durbin's must be common among our political class. So by all means lets tar and feather Durbin, but we're fooling ourselves if we stop with him.
