4 ms·

If schemes were regulated out of existence, then eventually there would be a huge population of gullible suckers who won’t recognize a Ponzi scheme. Much like

by natchy 5y ago

If schemes were regulated out of existence, then eventually there would be a huge population of gullible suckers who won’t recognize a Ponzi scheme. Much like how most American don’t barter anymore for little things so they’re easy pickings at a car dealership. Or if everybody quits drinking alcohol, you’ll know less people who’ve had liver failure, causing next generation to not know the risks, etc

antasvara 5y ago
That's a really interesting concept, but I think somewhat flawed. The purpose of regulating schemes out of existence is so that there's a smaller chance of them existing. Even if that decreases one's ability to discover these schemes, it should (theoretically) more than even out with the decreased chance of investing in a Ponzi scheme. I liken it to online shopping. Online shopping today is much more trustworthy than 15 years ago. Improvements in technology and more name brand companies using the internet has led to an increase in trust levels for shopping today versus in the early 2000's. This does make us more likely to be scammed, but the fact that it is now harder to scam someone online has (I would assume) decreased the percentage of people making fraudulent purchases.
- jandrese 5y ago
  > I liken it to online shopping. Online shopping today is much more trustworthy than 15 years ago. I'm not sure this is the case. I find it harder to avoid scams these days because some of the sites I used to trust went out of business because they couldn't compete with Amazon. But now Amazon is full of nearly impossible to spot fakes and sellers who flat out lie, and their system makes it hard to track who is who.
  - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
    More and more, I go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from them. If I'm buying a printed book, I use abebooks.com. Trying to do my part to support the Amazon competition. I still buy from Amazon, but not as much as a year ago.
    - timoth 5y ago
      AbeBooks does have independent sellers, but for anyone who was unaware, it was acquired by Amazon in 2008.
      - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
        > it was acquired by Amazon in 2008 I did not know that. Thank you for sharing. What are other (non-Amazon) options?

by natchy 5y ago

antasvara 5y ago

That's a really interesting concept, but I think somewhat flawed. The purpose of regulating schemes out of existence is so that there's a smaller chance of them existing. Even if that decreases one's ability to discover these schemes, it should (theoretically) more than even out with the decreased chance of investing in a Ponzi scheme. I liken it to online shopping. Online shopping today is much more trustworthy than 15 years ago. Improvements in technology and more name brand companies using the internet has led to an increase in trust levels for shopping today versus in the early 2000's. This does make us more likely to be scammed, but the fact that it is now harder to scam someone online has (I would assume) decreased the percentage of people making fraudulent purchases.

jandrese 5y ago
> I liken it to online shopping. Online shopping today is much more trustworthy than 15 years ago. I'm not sure this is the case. I find it harder to avoid scams these days because some of the sites I used to trust went out of business because they couldn't compete with Amazon. But now Amazon is full of nearly impossible to spot fakes and sellers who flat out lie, and their system makes it hard to track who is who.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  More and more, I go to the manufacturer's website and buy directly from them. If I'm buying a printed book, I use abebooks.com. Trying to do my part to support the Amazon competition. I still buy from Amazon, but not as much as a year ago.
  - timoth 5y ago
    AbeBooks does have independent sellers, but for anyone who was unaware, it was acquired by Amazon in 2008.
    - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
      > it was acquired by Amazon in 2008 I did not know that. Thank you for sharing. What are other (non-Amazon) options?