Pope needs a different Econ professor.
“speculation” is NOT “stealing”.
It is anticipating (or guessing) where the markets are headed and buying or selling early.
The “Speculation” does not inherently cause the market to move in a certain direction, as noted by the number of people who go broke guessing wrong.
End speculation and watch the economy contract by about 80%.
Your post says it all.
Two guys meet on the sidewalk to negotiate purchasing a barrel of oil. Two guys across the street bet on the outcome of the negotiation for the oil. In no way can the betting influence the negotiation.
And the betting is a zero net sum game.
When I read the headline I was hoping he was talking about billion dollar default swaps - but alas!...