Tyler Cowen, Columnist

Insider Trading Isn’t What You See in the Movies

New research shows how sordid and petty the practice really is.

August 4, 2016 at 12:00 PM UTC

Tyler Cowen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a professor of economics at George Mason University and host of the Marginal Revolution blog.

Not the best way to strike it rich.
Photographer: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

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Insider trading has long captured the public imagination, featuring in headlines, television and movies ranging from Wall Street in 1987 to the more recent TV series Billions. It's thus worth asking: To what extent does all the drama correspond to what insider traders actually do?

Judging from new research, the reality is a lot pettier and less glamorous -- and provides some troubling insight into the nature of trust in our society.