Economists argue that speculators:

can perform a useful task by transferring items from low-valued uses to higher-valued ones.
represent waste because they do not produce.
create a welfare loss by buying low and selling high.
increase risk for the others in the economy.


In an article about life in a prisoner-of-war camp, a British veteran of World War II recounted how traders would find price differentials in the camp and use them to make a profit. They would buy food for cigarettes in the part of the camp where food was cheaper and then resell the food for cigarettes in the part of the camp where food was more expensive. The technical term for what they were doing is:

arbitrage.
hedging.
using the futures market.
speculation.


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