Market makers are highly unlikely to "ruin or starve millions". Consider some graphs of the biggest HFT screwups ever: https://www.chrisstucchio.com/blog/2012/

Market makers are highly unlikely to "ruin or starve millions". Consider some graphs of the biggest HFT screwups ever: https://www.chrisstucchio.com/blog/2012/flash_crash_flash_in_the_pan.html https://www.chrisstucchio.com/blog/2012/flash_crash_flash_in... I have no idea why you think an HFT system is somehow more polluting than an ordinary server displaying cat pictures. Could you explain? Insofar as the stock market doesn't reflect "real world" performance that's primarily due to tax induced distortions. That situation is only getting worse as businesses go global, and the crazy US system of taxing foreign income turns double taxation into triple taxation.