Lawmakers should be banned from trading individual stocks.

Lawmakers trading individual stocks constitute a serious conflict of interest. The simplest case is a politician can easily see legislation that's about to pass, or even write new legislation, and trade based on how they think that upcoming legislation will affect certain companies or industries before the public becomes aware of the impending changes, thereby gaining a material advantage over the public. This is textbook insider trading. If it's illegal for executives in companies, it should be illegal for politicians too. Furthermore, lawmakers who own a particular stock are heavily incentivized to write laws that will markedly affect those markets and industries, presenting a real conflict of interests. Laws should be made for the benefit of the people, not politicians themselves. These concerns aren't just theoretical either. Lawmakers like Nancy Polosi, Dan Crenshaw, and others have seen significant increases in their portfolios since they entered public office -far outpacing the market in general, and even expert traders who predict markets for a living. This is not a coincidence, and you're going to have a hard time convincing me that these lawmakers just happen to be better traders than expert hedge fund managers.