December 15, 2021
Nancy Pelosi has commented on this proposal claiming \"We are a free-market economy. Policymakers should be able to participate in it.\"
These are two conflicting statements policymakers investing in a free-market economy makes the economy no longer free-market.
For one, there is a strong conflict-of-interest for policymakers to create policy and manipulate markets in their own personal favor instead of policy that is best for their voting constituents, such as pro free-market legislation. This is anti-democratic and goes against the very ideas upon which western civilization is built on and thrives upon.
For another, economies can only free if all participants have access to the same level of knowledge. Since policymakers have access to and can gather non-public classified or insider knowledge, such as knowledge belonging to company insiders, their legally enforced information advantage means their participation in a market would render it less free and less optimal. If policymakers have access to the same level of information as all US company directors and insiders combined, it makes sense that they follow the same if not stricter rules and enforcement.