Not entirely related, but I very much enjoyed the reference to <i>United States vs Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola</i>[1], which led me to the category of <i>in rem</i> [2] cases. These are most commonly referenced in civil forfeiture cases (e.g. <i>US vs <some amount of money></i>), and always struck me as slightly ridiculous ("what did the money ever do wrong?").<p>[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Forty_Barrels_%26_Twenty_Kegs_of_Coca-Cola" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Forty_Barrels...</a>
[2]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_rem_jurisdiction" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_rem_jurisdiction</a>
I was just reading a statarb paper this morning.<p>We really should have came up with a different word and left arbitrage alone back in the day.<p>I can't remember the last time I read about an arbitrage that was actually an arbitrage.<p>Now everything is basically "garage sale arbitrage".
I bought a piece of junk at a garage sale and sold it on ebay for a profit. "Risk free profit", cha ching. Just a total corruption of the actual concept.<p>I get it though,it is a great word.