Despite what some may claim, the US market is pretty well controlled. The tools are mostly geared towards corporations being able to hit other corporations over the head with a bat, but on occasion even some “average Joes” can pull a class action suit… although if a corporation manages to stay clear of other corporations, it can usually scam its users either for free, or for some “cost of doing business” kind of fines, as long as it does so without losing too much public image.
By comparison, a more “intervened market” like China’s, is 100% full of scammers… because the CCP won’t let anyone get big without having some way to blackmail them with shutting them down if it fits its agenda, so it’s a given that every larger Chinese corporation either has, or actively is breaking some law (just not openly). In addition, the CCP can step in and change the rules of the game at any moment, so it makes no sense to do business any other way than “get rich quick and GTFO before they change their mind”.
An alternative is the EU’s “free market with client protections”, which gives every client like a mini-bat to hit any corporation that wrongs them… but that’s only punishing against smaller scammers, while bigger corporations can still write it off as “cost of doing business”. It does work to keep users protected from at least part of the scams, though.
Honestly, most goods and services are a scam. Companies don’t care about workers, customers, or even their own longevity. Shareholders and next quarter profits reign supreme. If there is something that is not yet a scam, it will be co-opted and enshittified by a more powerful rent-seeker.
It has not been my impression that the US has more business scams than other places. Most of the big ones I can think of are phone and internet scams primarily run out of other countries to avoid US law enforcement.
Truth in advertising laws aren’t perfect but do exist and are mostly enforced. Although I’m not sure false advertising exactly counts as a scam.
Is there a specific type of scam you’re thinking of?
Ah, I’m not sure how the US market rules compare to other large stock exchanges but I don’t believe there are an enormous number of outright scams on either the NYSE or NASDAQ. There’s definitely a fine line between marketing, hype, and scam. Musk, for instance, pretty blatantly crosses the line into market manipulation but that’s more an exception than a rule. In general, disclosures are accurate and you can pretty much know what you’re getting into before buying.
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