Work

Capital in the Capitol: Congressional Trades Resemble Uninformed Retail Trading

NBER working paper by Haotian Chen and Bruce Sacerdote, April 2026, on the trades of all members of Congress and their families from 2012 to 2023.

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The debate

What it found

We find that, on average, legislators’ portfolios underperform or, at best, match market benchmarks after the STOCK Act.1

Connections 1

Timeline 2 dates

Apr 2026 Capital in the Capitol: Congressional Trades Resemble Uninformed Retail Trading
Apr 2026 Bruce Sacerdote authored Capital in the Capitol: Congressional Trades Resemble Uninformed Retail Trading

Proof 1 source

Capital in the Capitol: Congressional Trades Resemble Uninformed Retail Trading (NBER Working Paper 35041), National Bureau of Economic Research, Apr 2026. Scholarship & press
We find that, on average, legislators’ portfolios underperform or, at best, match market benchmarks after the STOCK Act.
CAPITAL IN THE CAPITOL: CONGRESSIONAL TRADES RESEMBLE UNINFORMED RETAIL TRADING Haotian Chen Bruce Sacerdote Working Paper 35041

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