Going Hoarse Talking About This
Business
Chris Twyman

02 August 2003
The Sydney Morning Herald
52

Futures schlock

Playwright Tom Stoppard observed that "war is capitalism with the gloves 
off", a contention highlighted this week by the Pentagon's attempt at fusion 
of armed forces and market forces. The weld held for but one day.

The military mind or at least those bits under the control of Admiral John 
Poindexter was in line for $12 million in Bush-backed funding through to 2005.

The master plan? Working on the premise of the predictive powers of the 
market, a website would offer futures trading aimed at encouraging investors 
to forecast terrorist attacks, coups and assassinations.

The best way to describe the plan's reception was one of open outcry and it 
was disowned the following day.

Though it's a Pentagon cast-off, Phatboy sees some merit in using the plan 
locally. There could be trading in whether and when Aristocrat's estranged 
supremo, Des Randall, is pipped or prevails in his suit against the poker 
machine maker.

With of course a secondary market with a sliding scale of how much he does 
or doesn't get and how much the lawyers get. There is no doesn't get for the 
latter.

"They've closed the futures on Poindexter's future," Phatboy lamented. "He's 
going. So to keep it easy, we'll bet on Simon Crean's."