Using Markets to Bust Up Political Cartels

by Max Keiser


I got this email this morning and I thought it was important to pass on. In the UK where I have been preaching the philosophy of KarmaBanque; using markets to fight market monopolization and media manipulation, a new campaign has sprung up that needs some support from progressives looking to 'fight fire with fire' and help level the playing field for all interested parties seeking equal and just representaion in government in all countries.

To assist in this initiative to bring some 'pricing parity' to social justice, I have forwarded this information to InTrade.com and the 'prediction markets' blog site, MidasOracle and asked that they open up their sites to accomodate contracts and blogging that seeks social-market-equality to compete with the corporate-market-hegemony that dominates now - to bring some balance to capitalism, both 'analog' and 'virtual.'

I got this email this morning and I thought it was important to pass on. In the UK where I have been preaching the philosophy of <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmabanque">KarmaBanque</a>; using markets to fight market monopolization and media manipulation, a new campaign has sprung up that needs some support from progressives looking to 'fight fire with fire' and help level the playing field for all interested parties seeking equal and just representaion in government in all countries. To assist in this initiative to bring some 'pricing parity' to social justice, I have forwarded this information to InTrade.com and the 'prediction markets' blog site, MidasOracle and asked that they open up their sites to accomodate contracts and blogging that seeks social-market-equality to compete with the corporate-market-hegemony that dominates now - to bring some balance to capitalism, both 'analog' and 'virtual.'

The role of 'prediction markets' is greater than people realize as these markets have the power to codify and quantify rumors that are then repeated and reported as economic 'fact.' A self serving feedback loop can quickly develop that makes the rumor true regardless of whether or not is has a basis in truth (the so-called, 'truthiness' factor).

We have learned recently that the collapse of BearStearns was due, in part, by CNBC's constant repetition of a rumor (truthiness) until the point where rumor became fact.

As I've written about before, this is not the 'Wisdom of Crowds,' as some argue, but the 'Complicity of Crowds' and serves as a modern, web-enabled corollary to Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent.' In this case propaganda is achieved by 'Monetizing Consent.'

ATTN: KARMABANQUE CEO: GREEN PARTY - FIRST MP IN BRITAIN (SHAN OAKES)

HOW TO MAKE A MILLION POUNDS ON THE ROTTING CORPSE OF DAVID DAVIS'S POLITICAL CAREER (AND USE IT FOR ETHICAL PURPOSES)

1. For the form guide in this two-horse race, please see:

a) THE PRESENT (SHAN OAKES, GREEN):
http://shanoakes.blogspot.com
http://shanoakes.typepad.com
http://www.facebook.com/...

b) THE PAST (DAVID DAVIS):
http://www.daviddavisforfreedom.com

2. Mainstream bookmakers such as Paddy Power

are not currently putting prices on the Haltemprice and Howden by-election on their website.

Yesterday, however, I emailed support@paddypower.com to ask them what price they would offer for the Green Party to win, and I was given the price of 14-1.

Therefore step one is to email Paddy Power at support@paddypower.com , or call them on
UK - 08000 565 275
Ireland - 1800 238 888
International - +353 1 4040120, or pop into one of their shops,
and ask them to offer you price on Green Party to win.

You can of course also try other mainstream bookmakers.

Paddy Power Politics Website:
http://www.paddypower.com/...

3. If you have been quoted a price, and you wish to (POSSIBLY) make a million pounds (to be used for ethical purposes), divide £1,000,000 by the price quoted, and lay a bet of that amount. For example, at 14-1, you need to place £71,428.57. If you do not have such a large amount of money, and are unwilling to risk such a large amount, you can of course bet a smaller amount, depending on the minimum bet rules of the bookmakers you visit. For example, £10 at 14-1 might make you £140 back, should Shan Oakes (Green) get elected on 10th July 2008, which looks increasingly likely. Of course, you can maximise your winnings by creating syndicates where you pool your resources with friends, family, and other activists.

4. If you cannot get a price from the mainstream bookmakers, you may be able to put on smaller bets at Betfair. Betfair uses a system whereby you bet against others who bet in the opposite direction, so there are tight limits on how much you can bet based on the liquidity in the opposite direction. Post-credit crunch, liquidity is at a bit of a premium, so you may only be able to put on tiny amounts. However, as an example, £2 at 40-1 might reap you £78 (after Betfair have removed their commission) or £11 at 15-1 might reap back £154.00.

Betfair's matched bets are constantly in flux, so it is worth monitoring it if you wish to use it.

Betfair Politics Zone:
http://politicszone.betfair.com/...

Betfair Haltemprice and Howden:
http://www.betfair.com/...

5. Obviously, it is possible for you to lose your money. If you are not willing to accept that risk, please do not bet. Furthermore, if you believe all gambling to be wrong, or gambling on politics to be wrong, please ignore this advice entirely.

6. If you do bet and Shan Oakes is elected, please consider sending a proportion of your earnings (eg half) to the Green Party. If not, please at least consider sending a proportion to a social or environmental organisation. Please also consider sending me 1% of your earnings at paddyhedges@gmail.com, as a reward for having come up with the idea. Of course, copyleft ideas cannot be copyrighted, and you are under no obligation whatsoever to send me the 1%, though I would appreciate it enormously.

7. If Shan Oakes is not elected (which looks increasingly unlikely), please do not come after me (at paddyhedges@gmail.com) with malice aforethought. Any risks taken are taken on by those betting, and candidates can be unelected as much as elected, just as house prices can (and are) coming down. The housing bubble has burst. So has David Davis's so-called 'freedom' bandwagon, whose wheels didn't work after all. Davis supported 28 days without trial and voted for ID cards in 2004, so his 'crusade for liberty' is, very obviously, naked leadership positioning. Verily the Emperor weareth no clothes. That doesn't mean, however, that the voters of H&H are incapable of returning him to rob us off our taxation on his salary, expenses, and second home allowances all over again, and take us into another ill-judged and illegal colonial misadventure such as an invasion of Iran. Hopefully, however, they will see sense and choose not to, and instead reward Shan Oakes's positivity by returning her to Westminster with a landslide.

8. To help the flow, please donate as much as you can to the Shan Oakes campaign. You can donate using the online button at http://shanoakes.blogspot.com.

It's the ecolonomy, stupid!

ECOLONOMICS INSTITUTE:
http://www.instituteofecolonomics.org/

RAOUL VANEIGEM: CORPSES IN THEIR MOUTHS
http://www.scenewash.org/...

IAN BROWN: CORPSES IN THEIR MOUTHS:
http://www.youtube.com/...

IAN BROWN: ILLEGAL ATTACKS:
http://www.youtube.com/...

Love from Paddy Hedges
Anti-Hedge Fund Manager (AHFM)