True scams aren't much slowed by accredited investor laws. Scammers just move into the areas - gambling, real estate, amateur high-frequency-trading, under-the-

True scams aren't much slowed by accredited investor laws. Scammers just move into the areas - gambling, real estate, amateur high-frequency-trading, under-the-table offerings - that escape SEC control. And people with poor money-management skills can already put all their money into legal things that go to zero - like lottery tickets or leveraged real-estate or Enron or pre-reorganization GM. And, 'dumb money' mainly gets smart by trial-and-error, and observing the lessons of peers. Locking all non-millionaires out of private investing prevents that process from even starting.