Is Short Selling Dead? With Jim Chanos

Published: Feb. 15, 2024, noon

b'The Wall Street Journal wrote that \\u201cWall Street\'s best-known bear is going into hibernation" after the legendary short seller Jim Chanos announced he would close his main hedge funds late last year, in part due to diminishing interest in stock picking. Short selling, which bets on drops in asset prices, wins when companies and governments fail and has gained a predatory reputation over the years. Just last week, the China Securities Regulatory Commission vowed "zero tolerance" against what they called "malicious short sellers," according to Reuters.\\n\\nOne of our listeners wrote to Bethany with this question: \\u201cWhat does it say about capitalism if Jim Chanos can\\u2019t find enough investors willing to profit from its frauds, fads, and failures, not to mention the competitive forces that are necessary for a functioning market? Is short selling dead?\\u201d To discuss this, Luigi and Bethany sat down with Chanos himself, who has been cast as the \\u201cDarth Vader of Wall Street,\\u201d the \\u201cCatastrophe Capitalist,\\u201d and the \\u201cLeBron James of short selling.\\u201d Together, they discuss the relationship between short sellers and our information environment, the fallout from the "meme stock" craze, the effects of the Federal Reserve\\u2019s interest rate policies, and how short selling can contribute to market efficiency and resilience. Do short sellers play a positive role by uncovering corporate fraud, mismanagement, and systemic risks? What safeguards are necessary to prevent short-selling abuse and ensure fair and transparent markets?'