Glen Tenney's Online Resources
Topic: Insider Trading

Insider trading is a very complex issue, and from a legal perspective existing laws are quite ambiguous and confusing. Insider trading is highly controversial from an ethical perspective as well. The articles below provide a flavor of the difficulties associated with the ongoing problem of insider trading as a moral issue.

Target: Private Enterprise By William Anderson	The demise of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, and the more recent Supreme Court overturning of the verdict against the firm, are put in the context of the general fallout of 9-11.
What is Morally Right With Insider Trading? By Tibor Machan	In this classic article, Machan identifies serious problems with the conventional view of insider trading that is based on the egalitarian belief that people have a right to information that has been honestly obtained by others ahead of them. He suggests that this view has little support morally, and concludes that acting on inside information – as long as no fraud or theft is involved – is perfectly ethical and commendable. (13 pages, 1991)
Insider Trading By Robert McGee and Walter Block	McGee and Block clearly distinguish, in this article, between insider trading that is immoral because it is fraudulent, and insider trading that is neither fraudulent nor immoral. (7 pages, 1992)
Insider Trading By Elaine Sternberg	British ethicist Elaine Sternberg notes that misappropriation (theft) and fraud are what make some forms of insider trading immoral. But even then, it is the theft or fraud that are immoral, not insider trading as such.(7 pages, 2000)
Can Agency Theory Justify the Regulation of Insider Trading? By Alex Padilla	In this comparative institutional analysis of the agency problem brought on by insider trading activities, Alex Padilla (Metropolitan State University of Denver) argues that in the unhampered market means do exist to limit such problems, and that government regulation of insider trading only worsens the agency problem.(36 pages, 2002)
Wanted for Outsider Trading By James Ostrowski	3 pages, 2002
The Attack on Martha By William Anderson	3 pages, 2002
Martha Stewart: Political Prisoner By William Anderson	4 pages, 2003
ImClone vs. Apple By Dale Steinreich	4 pages, 2002
Insider Trading: The Moral Issue By Ridgway K. Foley	5 pages, 1987
Egalitarianism Run Amok By Christopher Mayer	3 pages, 2001
The Fraud of Insider Trading Law, Part 1 By Sheldon Richman	2 pages, 2003
The Fraud of Insider Trading Law, Part 2 By Sheldon Richman	3 pages, 2003
Insider-Trading Prohibitions Should Go Out of Style By Donald Boudreaux	2 pages, 2003
Leave Sam and Martha Alone By Sheldon Richman	Says Richman, “Insider-trading law is just a cudgel used by ambitious federal regulators and prosecutors who are striving to make names for themselves by beating businessmen into submission.” (2 pages, 2002)
Panic on Wall Street By Murray Rothbard	The venerable Rothbard writes, “There is, in short, nothing wrong and everything right with inside trading.” (2 pages, 1995)
Michael Milken vs. the Power Elite By Murray Rothbard	2 pages, 1995

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