If you let the markets do their thing, you'll get a combination of actors focused on all timescales: some trying to get returns this year, some over the next 5

If you let the markets do their thing, you'll get a combination of actors focused on all timescales: some trying to get returns this year, some over the next 5 years, some over the next 50 years. However, sometimes the actions taken by those seeking 1- or 5-year returns actually decrease the total amount of returns available over the 50 year horizon. This is a tragedy of the commons situation, and it may behoove a government to step in and remove the incentives for the short-term investors so that society can reap an overall larger profit. Whether this is one of those cases I do not know.