Public officials should, without exemption of any kind, be banned from mingling in the stock market. Whether that be domestically or internationally, it presents opportunities for corruption to both spread and be more beneficial for those who choose that path, one which only inhibits the abilities which democracy was designed for in favor of personal gain. Most plainly, insider trading becomes infinitely more incentivized and enshrined within the government, with them being able to prevent policies that affect companies which they have a personal stake in from passing for sole economic incentive rather than moral reasoning. Insider trading undermines the good and the wellbeing of the people that bring these people into the positions of power, and is incredibly easy to hide from the public eye. Even if they can simply be removed from office, they will still serve a full term, with that time period averaging around 4 years globally. 4 years inhibiting economic growth of the nation, of the people, in favor of stuffing their own pocket. Think about that. Take, for example, Raj Rajaratram. The founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund was convicted of running a massive insider trading ring that generated over $63.8 million in illicit profits by trading on tips from corporate insiders. This is what happens when you let people with economic power have an economic incentive. Now I know I have just discussed a powerful man and a large sum of money, but I would like to close with maybe the most humble man of all. No man is good, not one. Those words come from a simple desert traveler... named Jesus.

Sorry, but your feelings are ultimately unequivocal to the data. Fortunately, the people who have money to spend on political campaigns, and therefore arrive in office, do not require the additional wealth made from the stock exchange to live comfortably, as it poses the risk of rampant corruption. There are already countless examples (Martha Stewart, Ivan Boesky, O'Hagan, etc.), which is a surprising number considering just how easy it is to actually hide your actions when you do insider trading. Simply put, the cons outweigh the pros, and thus, it should not be legal. Wouldn't you want the person in office dictating your life to have as little opportunities to be corrupted as possible?

Obviously, only a small fraction of trades will get flagged when the people that partake in it systematically make more to clog the system and hope that their illegal insider trades make it past. Trump made 21 thousand trades in his first year of his second term, and made around three quarters of a billion dollars off of those trades, meaning that he made around $35000 dollars per trade, when the average trade makes a profit of around $50-$150. If that doesn't point to a pattern of corruption that hasn't been definitively proven yet... because the agencies tracking it are controlled by him as the President of the United States, then I don't know what is.