With the fall 2008 economic crisis, word on the street and in congressional chambers placed a good share of the blame at the feet of hedge funds — specifically, short-selling practices by fund managers and forced deleveraging by lenders. These accusations prompted calls for greater transparency and heavier regulation of these huge multibillion dollar funds. However, without objective data, legislators could either under- or overregulate certain players in the market while missing opportunities to make substantive changes where they may be needed more. Before we create new regulations targeting hedge funds, said professor Gregory Brown, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar and finance professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, we need to know if short selling and deleveraging were part of Read More