Ironic protest

A group protesting how much money was spent on oil instead of poverty was protesting at the G20.

The group paraded through Toronto's financial core with an outsized papier-mache head of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, handing out fake C$1 billion bills that spoofed the price tag just for security at the summits.

Were they bragging about how much money they and other groups like them were forcing these people to spend on the meeting?

Of course, it does raise the issue of whether or not these events should be held in cities. Security would be a lot cheaper if they just completely rented out some out of the way resort. The reasons for not doing this could either be status related or because some of the leaders feel that allowing nearby protests makes things vaguely more democratic somehow.  The latter reason doesn't make too much sense, so it is probably the former.

About

I studied Bioengineering at the University of California at San Diego. While there I served as a trustee on the investment committee of the UCSD Student Foundation, a group that manages an endowment to fund scholarships. While in college I applied my interest in finance and economics by working as a summer associate at Clarium Capital Management, working part time my senior year, and joining full time when I graduated in 2006, staying there through August 2010. I am currently working as a portfolio manager at another global macro hedge-fund in the Presidio (And blogging about more directly market related ideas at their restricted blog). I’ve been focusing on quantitative finance, currencies, commodities, the interplay between finance and politics, demography and other long term trends.

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