The CFTC is going to close the comments in 5 days. We have 5 days left to convince the CFTC to accept FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (e.g., InTrade USA or BetFair USA), and counter the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowi

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–

THE MIDAS ORACLE TAKES:

– CALL TO ACTION: Let&#8217-s fight so that the CFTC allows the FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges to deal with &#8220-event markets&#8221-.

– In the for-profit vs not-for-profit debate, our prediction market luminaries, doctored by Bob, are on the wrong side of the issue.

– The definitive proof that FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (like BetFair and InTrade) are the best organizers of socially valuable prediction markets (like those on global warming and climate change).

– COMMENTS TO THE CFTC: What to expect from Tom W. Bell and Jason Ruspini

–

BACKGROUND INFO:

– CFTC’s Concept Release on the Appropriate Regulatory Treatment of Event Contracts&#8230- notably how they define &#8220-event markets&#8221-, how they are going to extend their &#8220-exemption&#8221- to other IEM-like prediction exchanges, and how they framed their questions to the public. Here are the comments sent to the CFTC.

– The Arnold &amp- Porter lawyer&#8217-s take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– The Schulte, Roth &amp- Zabel lawyers&#8217- take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– The Sullivan &amp- Cromwell lawyers&#8217- take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– Michael Giberson&#8217-s economic take.

– Chris Hibbert&#8217-s libertarian take.

– Tom W. Bell&#8217-s libertarian take.

– The American Enterprise Institute’s proposals to legalize the real-money prediction markets in the United States of America

–

COMMENTS TO THE CFTC

– This week, two prediction market organizations and one VIP will submit their comment to the CFTC.

– What Vernon Smith told the CFTC. &#8212- (PDF file)

– Jed Christiansen&#8217-s pragmatic take. &#8212- Final draft – (PDF file)

– The International Swaps and Derivatives Association&#8217-s comment to the CFTC &#8212- (ISDA) &#8212- (PDF file)

– Jason Ruspini&#8217-s comment to the CFTC &#8212- (PDF file)

– A young economist rebuts the American Enterprise Institute. &#8212- (MO mirror) &#8212- Comment to the CFTC – (PDF file)

–

APPENDIX:

Paul Wolfowitz&#8217-s profile at the American Enterprise Institute

– How the neo-cons drove the United States of America into the unecessary Iraq war

–

My question to Jason Ruspini

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Jason, thanks for your hard work on this issue. Your 7-page letter to the CFTC is a master document. &#8212- (PDF file)

What makes you think that your proposals will create more freedom for our prediction exchanges than the CFTC&#8217-s proposals?

Could you point to specific instances to us where you think that your input is more libertarian than the CFTC way? After all, your proposals contain many &#8220-don&#8217-t do that, and forbid that&#8221- things. :-D

–

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is not a friend of the prediction markets. Nor is the ISDA.

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Will the Chicago Mercantile Exchange write to the CFTC?

&#8230- asks Google&#8217-s Bo Cowgill.

That could be&#8230- However, I&#8217-m not holding my breath. Here&#8217-s why. The CME (along side the CBOE and ISDA) represents forces that does not push for the kind of financial innovations we are pushing here, on Midas Oracle. We are pulling for Web-based, de-intermediated, low-cost, event derivative exchanges. The financial dinosaurs (like the CME) do not.

Take a look at the CME&#8217-s 2003 letter to the CFTC about HedgeStreet&#8217-s application as a DCM. – (PDF file) – Here are the titles of the first 2 sections:

  1. HedgeStreet’s Proposal is Materially Deficient.
  2. The [HedgeStreet] Application Violates the CEA.

No need to go further. :-D &#8230- You have computed that the CME was (in 2003) no friend of HedgeStreet &#8212-and, thus, of our prediction markets. (For those who are just surfacing from an Afghan cave, yes, the CFTC did approve HedgeStreet&#8217-s application, finally, and told the CME to go fugging themselves.) So, I&#8217-m not holding my breath for a CME comment to the CFTC&#8217-s concept release on &#8220-event markets&#8221-. Saying that the CME is talking for the prediction market community is like saying the Ayatollah Khamenei was talking for priests, ministers, and rabbis.

As for the ISDA, they represent big institutional traders&#8230- who do not use exchanges ( !! ). What they say to the CFTC (PDF file), basically, is to be careful not to hurt the framework of the whole landscape. Well, thanks ISDA, but the CFTC knew that already.

As I said, 2 prediction market organizations will, each, submit their comment to the CFTC. I don&#8217-t expect that to be a deep read, with regards to derivative regulations. However, their industrial strategy might transpire, and that might be interesting for curious people like me. :-D

The 3 interesting takes about the &#8220-event markets&#8221- are from:

  1. the CFTC &#8212-if you are able to sense what their true opinion is.
  2. Jason Ruspini &#8212-(PDF file).
  3. Tom W. Bell &#8212-upcoming.

The future of US-based, non-sports, non-hedgeable prediction markets depends on those 3 poles of thought.

In the coming weeks, you&#8217-ll see many intellectual interactions between them.

The real question is: Will Jason Ruspini and/or Tom W. Bell have a proven impact on the CFTC process? I wish that, but both of them do stray away from the CFTC&#8217-s strict framework.

DEVELOPING&#8230-

–

Will those 2 exchanges be affected by the upcoming CFTC ruling?

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– YooNew

– FirstDibz

–

Previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • The FaceBook profiles of the 2 most important men of the field of prediction markets
  • THE HUMAN GADFLY WHOSE OBJECTIONS ROBIN HANSON IS DUCKING…???…
  • Google now considers Midas Oracle as a major blog.
  • Horizon 2015: A long-term strategic perspective for the real-money prediction markets
  • Join our group at LinkedIn to have your “Prediction Markets” badge on your profile. It’s ‘chic’. (“Groups” info should be set as “visible”, in your profile options.) We are 63 this early Saturday morning —keeps growing.
  • If you have been using PayPal to fund your InTrade, TradeSports or BetFair account, please, check that horror story.
  • 48 hours after the launch of the “Prediction Markets” group at LinkedIn, we have already 52 members —both prediction market luminaries and simple people (trading the event derivatives or collecting the market-generated probabilities).

Third Workshop on Prediction Markets, July 9 in Chicago

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The Third:

July 9th, 2008

–
1:25pm Opening Remarks

–

1:30 – 2:20pm: Session 1: Practical Applications and Experiences

–

Speaker: Emile Servan-Schreiber (1:30-1:45pm)

  • Keys to successful implementation of an internal corporate prediction market (Emile Servan-Schreiber)

–

Speaker: Todd Henderson (1:45-2:05pm)

  • Prediction Markets for Corporate Governance (Michael Abramowicz and Todd Henderson)
  • Predicting Crime (Todd Henderson, Justin Wolfers, and Eric Zitzewitz)

Discussion (2:05pm – 2:15pm)
–

2:20pm-3:10pm Session 2: Security Design and Theory

–

Speaker: Hajime Mizuyama (2:15 pm &#8212- 2:30pm)

  • Intra-Firm Prediction Market System Using VIPS for Demand Forecasting (Hajime Mizuyama)

–

Speaker: Stefan Stathel (2:30 pm &#8211-2:45pm)

  • Information Efficiency and Liquidity in Information Markets: A market-maker based approach (Stefan Stathel, Clemens van Dinther, and Stefan Luckner)

–

Speaker: Eiichero Kazumori (2:45 pm &#8212- 3:00pm)

  • A Strategic Theory of Markets (Eiichiro Kazumori)

Discussion (3pm-3:10pm)
–

3:10pm-3:30pm: Break

–

3:30-4:25pm: Session 3: Event Detection

–

Speaker: Todd Kuethe (3:30 – 3:45pm)

  • Identifying &#8220-Tipping Points&#8221- in US Presidential Campaigns: Evidence from Prediction Market Prices 1992-2004 (Todd H. Kuethe, David Ubilava, Benoit Delbecq, and Kenneth A. Foster)

–

Speaker: George Tziralis (3:45pm – 4:00pm)

  • Detecting Important Events using Prediction Markets, Text Mining, and Volatility Modeling (George Tziralis and Panos Ipeirotis)

–

Speaker: Abe Othman (4:00pm-4:15pm)

  • Time Inconsistency and Uncertainty Aversion in Information Markets (Ivan Corwin and Abe Othman)

Discussion (4:15pm-4:25pm)

–
Session 4: Comparison to Alternatives (4:25-4:55pm)

–
Speaker: Andreas Graefe (4:25-4:45pm)

  • Can you beat the market? Accuracy of Individual and Group Post-Prediction Market Judgments (Andreas Graefe and J. Scott Armstrong)
  • Group Decision Making – Face-to-face Meetings, Nominal Groups, Delphi, and Prediction Markets Compared (Andreas Graefe and J. Scott Armstrong)

Discussion: 4:45-4:55pm

–

Wrap-up: 4:55-5pm

Previous blog posts by Chris “GadFly” Masse:

  • PROF TOM W. BELL, PLEASE, DO SKIP THE PAGAN CELEBRATIONS, AND, PLEASE, DO RETURN TO YOUR DESK TO FINISH THE DRAFT OF YOUR COMMENT TO THE CFTC. THANKS FOR YOUR PRAGMATIC (NOT ‘ETHEREAL’) CONTRIBUTION TO “THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY”. (There is a hidden slam to Robin Hanson in this title. I wonder whether people will get the joke.)
  • The CFTC is going to close the comments in 3 days. We have 3 days left to convince the CFTC to accept FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (e.g., InTrade USA or BetFair USA), and counter the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowitz, the bright masterminder of the Iraq war).
  • TOM W. BELL: “Thanks, Chris. Thanks, too, for being such an effective gadfly. I might well have blown off the whole exercise if you had not kept blogging about how you were awaiting my comment!”
  • What to think of HedgeStreet’s comment to the CFTC
  • The freshest comments sent to the CFTC
  • “To someone like me who trades professionally and also ran for Congress a few years back, InTrade is a marriage made in heaven.”
  • HOW TO DESTROY INTRADE, TRADESPORTS AND BETFAIR: a betting application for FaceBook

The CFTC is going to close the comments in 6 days. We have 6 days left to convince the CFTC to accept FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (e.g., InTrade USA or BetFair USA), and counter the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowi

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–

THE MIDAS ORACLE TAKES:

– CALL TO ACTION: Let&#8217-s fight so that the CFTC allows the FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges to deal with &#8220-event markets&#8221-.

– In the for-profit vs not-for-profit debate, our prediction market luminaries, doctored by Bob, are on the wrong side of the issue.

– The definitive proof that FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (like BetFair and InTrade) are the best organizers of socially valuable prediction markets (like those on global warming and climate change).

– COMMENTS TO THE CFTC: What to expect from Tom W. Bell and Jason Ruspini

–

BACKGROUND INFO:

– CFTC’s Concept Release on the Appropriate Regulatory Treatment of Event Contracts&#8230- notably how they define &#8220-event markets&#8221-, how they are going to extend their &#8220-exemption&#8221- to other IEM-like prediction exchanges, and how they framed their questions to the public. Here are the comments sent to the CFTC.

– The Arnold &amp- Porter lawyer&#8217-s take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– The Schulte, Roth &amp- Zabel lawyers&#8217- take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– The Sullivan &amp- Cromwell lawyers&#8217- take. &#8212- (PDF file)

– What Vernon Smith told the CFTC. &#8212- (PDF file)

– This week, 4 prediction market organizations and VIPs will submit their comment to the CFTC.

– Michael Giberson&#8217-s economic take.

– Chris Hibbert&#8217-s libertarian take.

– Tom W. Bell&#8217-s libertarian take.

– Jed Christiansen&#8217-s pragmatic take. &#8212- Final draft – (PDF file)

– A young economist rebuts the American Enterprise Institute. &#8212- (MO mirror)

– The American Enterprise Institute’s proposals to legalize the real-money prediction markets in the United States of America

–

APPENDIX:

Paul Wolfowitz&#8217-s profile at the American Enterprise Institute

– How the neo-cons drove the United States of America into the unecessary Iraq war

–

Nigel, your very nice poll widget cant be seen within my feed reader (Google Reader). Put it in the trash can, will you.

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Previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • The FaceBook profiles of the 2 most important men of the field of prediction markets
  • THE HUMAN GADFLY WHOSE OBJECTIONS ROBIN HANSON IS DUCKING…???…
  • Google now considers Midas Oracle as a major blog.
  • Horizon 2015: A long-term strategic perspective for the real-money prediction markets
  • Join our group at LinkedIn to have your “Prediction Markets” badge on your profile. It’s ‘chic’. (“Groups” info should be set as “visible”, in your profile options.) We are 63 this early Saturday morning —keeps growing.
  • If you have been using PayPal to fund your InTrade, TradeSports or BetFair account, please, check that horror story.
  • 48 hours after the launch of the “Prediction Markets” group at LinkedIn, we have already 52 members —both prediction market luminaries and simple people (trading the event derivatives or collecting the market-generated probabilities).

Commenting on Midas Oracle

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As you know, some people commenting here told me they went into trouble, even when they were logged in. I found out why. The anti-spam plugin &#8220-WP Spam Free&#8221- does not exempt registered blog users from its anti-spam checking. It only exempts the administrator (me). That&#8217-s absurd. (See the WP forum.) The registered users of Midas Oracle should be trusted a priori.

I didn&#8217-t know that. When some commenters complained to me, I thought they were completely drunk. Sorry for that, folks.

Which is why the plugin &#8220-WP Spam Free&#8221- is out (until its author comes back to his sense), and &#8220-Bad Behavior&#8221- is in.

Commenters, let me know whether the problems you got while trying to comment on Midas Oracle have disappeared. Thanks. I promise I&#8217-ll trust you, this time. :-D

–

Our previous post on the topic of registration (which is recommended).

–

UPDATE: Bad Behavior proved to be good for my blog users, but lately, I endured an attack of spam comments (60 last night). So, I did disable Bad Behavior and re-enable WP Spam Free for a while&#8230- I&#8217-ll see what to do next&#8230- If you encounter problems, e-mail me. I think you should accept cookies and have JavaScript enabled in your browser&#8230-

–

The economist Robin Hanson predicts that some of our computronium-based progeny may colonize the cosmos in a peaceful, cooperative manner, like nice liberal Democrats.

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John Horgan in the WSJ

&#8230-&#8220-like nice liberal Democrats&#8221-&#8230- ha! ha! ha! :-D &#8212- &#8230- like Mike Linksvayer, then&#8230- (depending on your meaning of &#8220-liberal&#8221-)&#8230- :-D

–

Previous blog posts by Chris “GadFly” Masse:

  • PROF TOM W. BELL, PLEASE, DO SKIP THE PAGAN CELEBRATIONS, AND, PLEASE, DO RETURN TO YOUR DESK TO FINISH THE DRAFT OF YOUR COMMENT TO THE CFTC. THANKS FOR YOUR PRAGMATIC (NOT ‘ETHEREAL’) CONTRIBUTION TO “THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY”. (There is a hidden slam to Robin Hanson in this title. I wonder whether people will get the joke.)
  • The CFTC is going to close the comments in 3 days. We have 3 days left to convince the CFTC to accept FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (e.g., InTrade USA or BetFair USA), and counter the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowitz, the bright masterminder of the Iraq war).
  • TOM W. BELL: “Thanks, Chris. Thanks, too, for being such an effective gadfly. I might well have blown off the whole exercise if you had not kept blogging about how you were awaiting my comment!”
  • What to think of HedgeStreet’s comment to the CFTC
  • The freshest comments sent to the CFTC
  • “To someone like me who trades professionally and also ran for Congress a few years back, InTrade is a marriage made in heaven.”
  • HOW TO DESTROY INTRADE, TRADESPORTS AND BETFAIR: a betting application for FaceBook

Reality-Mined Prediction Markets

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Previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • Meet professor Thomas W. Malone (on the right), from the MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence.
  • Tom W. Bell rebuts the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowitz, the bright masterminder of the Iraq war).
  • The upcoming CFTC ruling may come as thunder and lightning —or may not. That is the question. Will they exempt or will they regulate?
  • PROF TOM W. BELL, PLEASE, DO SKIP THE PAGAN CELEBRATIONS, AND, PLEASE, DO RETURN TO YOUR DESK TO FINISH THE DRAFT OF YOUR COMMENT TO THE CFTC. THANKS FOR YOUR PRAGMATIC (NOT ‘ETHEREAL’) CONTRIBUTION TO “THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY”. (There is a hidden slam to Robin Hanson in this title. I wonder whether people will get the joke.)
  • The CFTC is going to close the comments in 3 days. We have 3 days left to convince the CFTC to accept FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (e.g., InTrade USA or BetFair USA), and counter the puritan and sterile petition organized by the American Enterprise Institute (which has on its payroll Paul Wolfowitz, the bright masterminder of the Iraq war).
  • TOM W. BELL: “Thanks, Chris. Thanks, too, for being such an effective gadfly. I might well have blown off the whole exercise if you had not kept blogging about how you were awaiting my comment!”
  • What to think of HedgeStreet’s comment to the CFTC