Key Takeaways:
A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading.
Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market.
The ban on onion futures led to adverse impacts for onion farmers and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and sparked serious academic work highlighting the role of futures and speculation in stabilizing prices.
Congress’ ban on onion futures, now 68 years old, is increasingly nonsensical with the rise of online betting platforms and markets such as Kalshi that allow users to “hedge” their exposure to all manner of absurdities.
The Details: President Eisenhower is...
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