Promising Scheme Defeated by Halfwits
A promising intelligence-gathering method has been cancelled due to the simple-minded simpering of a gang of acephalic twits, according to the BBC. Am I too strong in my condemnation? I think not—and I daresay you'll agree, after hearing the story.
So what was this idea? Simply put, to establish a literal market for
ideas. Traders could purchase shares of overthrow of Jordan
or
assassination of the Queen
; whatever idea-stock they might care
to issue. The public, governments and intelligence agencies in general
would be able to derive benefit by observing the workings of this
market.
Why was this a good idea? We all know how effective markets are in the financial realm: while they do have their weaknesses, they are incredibly accurate and good at what they do. The great mass of the marketplace behaves as analysts expect; what is more, even the common man can make fairly informed decisions, simply my observing the market. Imagine trying to buy 1/1,754,293 of Apple Computer without a market. One would have no idea—or an idea so primitive as not to deserve the name—what that would be worth; one would have no idea where to purchase it; no idea if it's wise to buy Apple Computer instead of General Electric; no idea, really, about anything. Enter the market: a device honed to near-perfection to answer exactly those questions. Looking at today's stock chart, that share of Apple is valued by the market at $4,315.13. You don't need to know who owns it to buy; you just ask your broker to place an order for you. You can look at Apple's information, and see that right now it is valued more highly than it was a time ago, while GE has stayed relatively even.
Imagine the power of this idea applied to ideas: being able to draw on the collective thoughts of thousands of analysts, being able to instantly respond to changing conditions—and being able to make a packet off of it. It was a tremendous opportunity. One under-brained and overfed senator—our very own Daschle—argued that it might encourage folks to commit acts of terrorism. What he didn't note is that they'd be caught: the trades would be public and could be traced. Having made a fortune in Indonesian insurrections would be of little use while rotting in a cell.
Perhaps in a century folks will be bright enough to cotton onto the potential of such a scheme; perhaps they'll apply it to any idea; perhaps our rulers then won't be the morons our rulers now are. I see no reason to expect it, though.
