Shorting is absolutely open to abuse, especially naked shorting (i.e. you sell the stock without buying it first). Google the CEO of Overstock.com. He had a lot to say about naked shorts being abused. Regular shorts aren't abused as much because the company's dividends have to be paid to the owner by the borrower (i.e. the short) this makes the varying cost of holding a short on a good company high. I also never understood why people lend their stock to shorts. You're just helping them put downward preassure on a position that you're long.