May 13, 2009
Circuit breakers and uptick rules offer little more than partial relief from the inherent obligations of market makers and other exchange insiders against conditions of unusual market volatility. Such rules constrain the activities of the public, and it is simply nonsensical to argue that the public could possibly be made better off by restricting their opportunities to trade. Moreover, there is virtually no academic research supporting the notion that either circuit breakers or uptick rules have any public benefit whatsoever. I urge you to eliminate any such rules entirely, regardless of what self-serving market insiders are telling you to the contrary.