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Online exchanges likely to set up `Terror Futures`
New York, Aug 11: The Pentagon`s roundly-vilified plan for a terrorism `futures` market was axed last week before it saw the light of day, but some private online betting exchanges may soon pick up where the government left off.
New York, Aug 11: The Pentagon’s roundly-vilified plan for a terrorism ‘futures’ market was axed last week before it saw the light of day, but some private online betting exchanges may soon pick up where the government left off.
However weird it may seem, the Pentagon’s hope was that such ‘futures’ contracts would help it take advantage of the predictive ability of markets to help prevent future attacks and track key political developments.
While the US Congress jumped all over the quirkier plans for contracts on assassinations and terrorist attacks, the exchange also planned ‘futures’ based on the stability of governments in the Middle East that could have yielded valuable intelligence about the volatile region. Futures markets for everything from box office receipts to orange juice have often proven uncannily accurate at assessing the likelihood of a potential outcome, and economists said political contracts were the next logical step.
To John Delaney, chief executive of online exchange Tradesports.com and originator of ‘Saddam futures’ before the Iraq war, the Pentagon’s proposed exchange was not as ridiculous as critics advertised. His company plans to take up some of the ideas the government abandoned.
Bureau Report
While the US Congress jumped all over the quirkier plans for contracts on assassinations and terrorist attacks, the exchange also planned ‘futures’ based on the stability of governments in the Middle East that could have yielded valuable intelligence about the volatile region. Futures markets for everything from box office receipts to orange juice have often proven uncannily accurate at assessing the likelihood of a potential outcome, and economists said political contracts were the next logical step.
To John Delaney, chief executive of online exchange Tradesports.com and originator of ‘Saddam futures’ before the Iraq war, the Pentagon’s proposed exchange was not as ridiculous as critics advertised. His company plans to take up some of the ideas the government abandoned.
Bureau Report