Earlier this summer, speculators came under attack for their alleged role in inflating energy and other commodity prices. Members of the US Congress, airlines, and many others railed against speculators as a curse. I could not help but chuckle at the irony of the recent US credit market rescue plan that turned US tax payers into the world’s biggest market speculators.
My mood, however, turned sour at the realisation of the short-sighted nature of the bailout and the negative impact that it will have on US markets and the US’s free market reputation around the world.
