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Please please please keep the phrase 'zero sum' out of this. It'll only encourage pointless arguing about whether or not something is zero sum. It does not mat
by joosters 11y ago
Please please please keep the phrase 'zero sum' out of this. It'll only encourage pointless arguing about whether or not something is zero sum.
It does not matter if trading is/isn't zero sum. Or perhaps you can explain why it matters?
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIts a pivotal issue. Zero sum means no value is being added by the process - its entropic. Such processes can be dispensed with, to the benefit of all.
- joosters 11y agoYou're missing the point, It doesn't mean that at all. Plenty of things could be dispensed with for the benefit of all, zero-sum or not. ZS is not a magic flag that shows something is worthless.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoDisagree; it is exactly that flag. Other things may be even worse than zero, of course.
- joosters 11y agoPeople seem to think that 'zero-sum' is an analytic shortcut to declaring something good/bad. You can't actually do this, however neat it seems. You have to consider all the difficult-to-quantify social impacts and intricacies too. Almost every attempt to declare something zero sum will miss out relations, factors, dependencies and links because the model they pick is too simple. Hence the never-ending arguments about trying to define something ZS or not.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoThat I can agree with wholeheartedly. But I'd add, HFT is like kids playing soccer on the freeway. They don't create value for anybody but themselves, and they screw up things for everybody else. I wish they would go away.
- kasey_junk 11y agoYou are right. I shouldn't have used that term when responding to the original poster.