The passage below is from the financial press.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has recently (2010) voted to approve futures based on cinema box-office receipts. The reasoning behind their approval was that a film’s domestic box-office receipts qualify as a commodity. By contrast, the US Senate has put a ban on such trading in its latest effort of financial reform and regulation. The Senate considers this as another gambling platform. The box-office futures prohibition is a response to recent efforts to create exchanges that would allow studios and speculators to hedge or wager on the risks of Hollywood releases. Moreover, some feared that manipulation by movie executives and cinema chain owners could tarnish the movie market.

a. Why do you think there is opposition to the creation of a futures market for movies?

b. Can you find any benefits to trading such futures?