Jul 22, 2023 - Economy

The Senate's very Gen X stock-trading bill

Felix Salmon

Illustration of legislation being pierced with fountain pens. — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Members of Congress — along with the president, vice president, and other key members of the government — should be barred from owning individual stocks. That's the message being sent by two senators, backed by overwhelming public opinion.

Why it matters: The senators introducing the bill, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Josh Hawley of Missouri, are both Gen X — the first (and possibly the last) generation to truly adopt the tenets of passive investing.

The big picture: Both the Baby Boomers and the Millennials have in their own way embraced the allure that is investing in individual stocks — an allure that is only enhanced when you have access to top-secret information.

By the numbers: There are only 23 Gen X senators, compared with 66 Boomers. By that math alone, this bill seems doomed.

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The Senate's very Gen X stock-trading bill

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