[what's up]

It's the brokers' prerogative whether or not they want to lend shares. They earn a commission for it. That's up to them.

If you believe in the free market you will see that shorting is actually the free markets at work.

Illegal naked selling (sliding thru the loopholes by not actually taking possession of shares you borrow) is another story.

[Sam Gamgee]

Illegal short selling is what should be targeted. With all this up and downs in the market guess who is making a killing? Wall Street brokers.

[Almondjoy]

But the whole concept defies logic.

You are borrowing an asset to sell it on the market. The only place in the world you can do that is the stock market.

What other asset do you sell but hope to buy it back later at a lower price?

Just because you can make a market out of something doesn’t make it practical or as someone else put it.. efficent.