# What do politicians do with their investments to prevent conflict of interest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738 "2005-10-31T16:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738/1 "2005-10-31T16:34:03Z")
This includes various other government employees as well. Say my buddy Joe runs for president of the US on the Cynics Party ticket in 2008 and wins the election. Because we’re such good buddies, and I’d make an excellent crony, Joe appoints me as the head of some executive branch department. Are there laws saying what he and I have to do with our various investments? Rules? Customs? I remember hearing of some issues w/Cheny’s investments with his former company, but I’d also heard he had to sell all his stock with them. What do government employees do to convince the public that their own money-making is not coloring their job performance? Please remember this is GC. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738/2 "2005-10-31T19:30:47Z")
I don’t know that actual law, but I remember that David Packard wasn’t allowed to profit from his holdings in HP when he served in the Nixon administration; while he still held the stock, any dividends/profits were put into his non-profit foundation. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738/3 "2005-10-31T19:34:36Z")
The money needs to be put in a blind trust. Pick a financial manager you trust to run it. The reason it’s called a blind trust is you don’t (or, aren’t supposed to) know exactly what’s there. Your manager reports numbers. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738/4 "2005-10-31T20:03:01Z")
As an interesting sidelight, the New Yorker pointed out that, for some reason, politicians investment holdings _always_ outperform any mutual fund, the market, or anything else. Can you say “insider information.” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-politicians-do-with-their-investments-to-prevent-conflict-of-interest/328738/5 "2005-10-31T20:05:21Z")
> [@Doug Bowe](#): > > The money needs to be put in a blind trust. That’s not always necessary. Sometimes Blind trusts aren’t so blind as politicians make them out to be: [Letters Show Frist Notified Of Stocks in ‘Blind’ Trusts Documents Contradict Comments on Holdings](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/23/AR2005102301201.html)