When I read this story this morning, it really made me laugh at the cynicism of capitalism. Traders in London are placing bets on how many people will get arrested, injured or killed during the protests of this week’s G20 summit. This is from The Guardian:

Two traders based in an office opposite RBS on Bishopsgate said they had walked across the City “to have a nice lunch and chill out”. Sipping coffee after three courses and a few Marlboro Lights, they were angry that the police didn’t seem to be making any arrests: “Its kicking off over in Bishopsgate”, they said. “The demonstrators are goading the police and hitting them with sticks, but they are just letting them. They aren’t arresting anyone.”

And these two wanted to see the long arm of the law carting a few protesters away ‘“ because they had a financial interest in arrests. “I’ll make money if they arrest more than 140”, he said. Traders, he explained were putting spread bets on the number of arrests ‘“ with the quoted spread on Bloomberg at 130-140. They were also paying out on deaths and if more than 20 demonstrators are injured by horse charges.

So what happens if you don’t beat the spread? I’ve placed all kinds of bets on football games, but this is a little much, even for me. President Obama and other world leaders are meeting to discuss possible solutions to the global financial crisis and these bankers are betting on the protests of the meetings? I hope that the bankers aren’t using government bailout money to pay their bookies.