I think a complete ban on owning individual stocks would be a bit overkill. Perhaps, controversially, I believe members of the government should own some stock - I want them personally invested in the economic wellbeing of the country. I also don't want to limit the candidate pool artificially to just professional politicians.
But the fix here seems pretty easy. If you are an executive at a publicly traded corporation, you have to disclose any changes in your position of that stock months in advance. Just make politicians follow the same process for the entire stock market.
But the fix here seems pretty easy. If you are an executive at a publicly traded corporation, you have to disclose any changes in your position of that stock months in advance. Just make politicians follow the same process for the entire stock market.