Insider trading is an activity that benefits a small percentage of people to the detriment of others. Market building (I like the term) is not a function of supplying the demand, but creating a demand for the supply. Textile manufacturers have to sell their wares. If styles stayed the same for years, people would not change clothing as often – there’d be no reason to change clothing every season. Sales would go down. Companies would close. Yes, the big guys would have less money, but the regular joe would be affected too. For every company owner who makes a million, there’s hundreds, sometimes thousands or people who can feed their families. People would be out of work. I’m not arguing the fairness of the profit distribution here, just discussing the reasons behind creating the demand.
True, there could be a case made for the emotional benefits of not needing to follow trends but, face it, were not Amish, we like to stand out – even while fitting in. The best example is kids, who make a point of being “different” (while all looking the same
) than their parents. It’s a trend that repeats itself every generation. And these kids, who all think they are so original, they don’t give a second thought to the fact that the styles they are wearing to be different, were decided upon by big corporations the seasons before.
There are good and bad points in this system, I just don’t think it can be compared to insider trading though.
