Don't Blame the Shorts: Why Short Sellers are Always Blamed for
Market Crashes and How History is Repeating Itself. By Robert
Sloan. McGraw-Hill; 247 pages; $27.95. Buy from  NOBODY loves a
party pooper and the shorts—investors who bet on falling
prices—are the ultimate poopers. If you want proof, look at the
financial crisis of late 2008. Chief executives of investment
banks, who had made their fortunes out of free markets, suddenly
called for trading restrictions. They had spent years lending
stocks to hedge funds so they could speculate against overvalued
companies. But when it came to investors shorting their own
shares, the banks embraced government regulation.  Shorts have
never been popular. When financial crises occur, the public and
the media are keen to find someone to blame, and shorts easily
fit the bill. Making money out of other people's misery seems
downright mean and unpatriotic. Short-sellers are accused of
spreading false rumours, like men shouting fire in a crowded
theatre. After the great