Can 'gamblers' predicting terrorist targets help security?
I read something about this a good while back. It was at Covers.com, I believe. I think it's an EXCELLENT idea! What do you think?
Here's one comment on it: http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/05/terrorism-betting-markets/
Remember terrorism betting markets? Four years ago, a couple of senators found out that DARPA was setting up a market where people could make bets about terrorist attacks - and use those odds to inform policy. The program was killed almost instantly amidst national outcry.
Funny thing, though: The daily news coverage was hysterically negative, but as time went on, publications with more time to gather the facts and reflect on them started to change their tune. Media that took the time to ask the experts and listen to their answers found out that betting markets are incredibly informative.
Maybe they were just asking the wrong experts? Think again. A coalition of 24 leading economists spanning the whole ideological spectrum recently released the following Statement on Prediction Markets. Highlights:
Prediction markets are markets for contracts that yield payments based on the outcome of an uncertain future event… A key benefit is that the market price of these contracts can potentially provide more accurate forecasts of future events than other methods. Using these markets as forecasting tools could substantially improve decision making in the private and public sectors. They also can help manage risk more efficiently. It is precisely because prediction markets have great potential that we think the government should facilitate rather than hinder the introduction of these markets.
They conclude:
We believe prediction markets can significantly improve decision making in both the private and public sectors. One of the clear benefits of allowing small stakes, non-profit markets to operate would be the greater use of prediction markets to inform both public and private decision making. A second benefit would be that access to better information could promote greater transparency and accountability in decision making. A third benefit might be that other countries and regions would promote prediction markets with more sensible regulation. Finally, we think there would be benefits from the development of new knowledge on how to design prediction markets.
There must be some dissent among economists, right? Sure, Steve Levitt criticizes the Statement - for not going far enough:
[The Statement] attempts to draw a sharp distinction between prediction markets created by academics for research and other kinds of markets. A subtle implication of that distinction is that the government has some legitimate role in restricting access to prediction/gambling markets more generally. To me, there is no difference between a “prediction” market and a “gambling” market. If there is demand for people who either want financial risk surrounding an event or want to hedge risk, why should the government get in the way? It doesn’t matter whether it’s the value of a bond, a share of stock, a presidential election, a firm’s likelihood of hitting its quarterly numbers, or the chances that the White Sox will win the pennant. In general I am not much of a libertarian, but our government’s policy towards gambling is completely idiotic and rife with internal contradictions.
Are we likely to get terrorism betting markets anytime soon? I doubt it. But if we really wanted to know the score on terrorism, we’d listen to the experts. And the experts are telling us to ungag the market and hear what it has to say.
"The best way to bail out the economy is with liberty, not with federal reserve notes." - pairunoyd
"The vision of the Austrian must be greater than the blindness of the sheeple." - pairunoyd
If you can't legally bet on terrorism, I'd like to see a sort of 'dead celebrity pool'. You could provide the location where you think the next attack will occur and if you win you get points and recognition. I might look into and see of theres something already out there or if I can get one going. There are tons of people that see all kinds of vulnerabilities that a single agency could not fathom. Also, maybe even someone w/ inside info could post it. But would I really want to expose myself to these type people? Sounds scary...
Hey, I got it. Why stop w/ political terrorism? What about little bullied 9th grader, Johnny Jr? He might be ready to crack. What about the guy at work? Could you imagine being voted the guy most likely to kill your co-worker? lol Maybe the prediction market realm should be extended into all sorts of areas. Cool, I have something to think about!
<p>I see a dark side here.</p> <p> What if gambling/prediction markets proved exceedingly accurate? What if they were <i>too</i> successful?</p> <p>I can envision this morphing into some kind of weird "Minority Report" scenario; where the fed's start preemptively arresting people, spying on certain people, or locking down entire areas, just based on the results of gambling markets.</p> <i>As long as there were safeguards in place to prevent actual legislation, or any type of state coercion whatsoever, resulting from predictions, then I have no problem with it.