tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5081053233461844335.post4645936199703372934..comments2024-01-03T00:24:05.872-08:00Comments on A view from Barnes village: Criminal activity?MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06864741972109196698noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5081053233461844335.post-92080942509683716682010-02-05T01:58:05.236-08:002010-02-05T01:58:05.236-08:00It’s a point well made about the similarity betwee...It’s a point well made about the similarity between trading UK corporate bonds and betting on a horse race. Buying and selling shares is nothing more than opinion based gambling and yet somehow it is widely regarded as a more acceptable and respectable undertaking. I look forward to the day when sports events are genuinely accepted by everyone as a mainstream asset class and warrant precisely the same investment approach.<br /> <br />I think the association between gambling and criminality is nothing more than a historical and cultural legacy that will in time disappear as regulation improves and more people participate.<br /><br />It’s just that gambling on a company’s future performance happens to have been legal and regulated for an awful lot longer than gambling on the performance of a football team or a thoroughbred horse.<br /><br />And in those parts of the world where the latter is still illegal it is inevitable that criminals will seek to benefit. Just look at who were the primary beneficiaries of Prohibition in the US during the 1920s.<br /><br />I note from the Gambling Commission’s report that participation in gambling was associated with a more positive perception of gambling, and that the percentage of those who associate gambling with criminal activity was significantly higher among those who do not gamble. I’d therefore expect to see the percentage of people associating gambling with criminal activity continue to fall in coming years.Jon Weedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02073462156392210119noreply@blogger.com