Market efficiency and the number of humans involved are unrelated. When people talk about market efficiency they are talking about the markets ability to quick

Market efficiency and the number of humans involved are unrelated. When people talk about market efficiency they are talking about the markets ability to quickly allocate capital where it is needed at a "fair" price. I think the comments about the industry being largely parasitic are generally correct. They real issue is that if there is a 100 billion dollar transaction taking place and you can make that happen 1% more efficiently any fee you charge up to a billion dollars is a "good deal" from a purely economic standpoint. That is unless someone is able or willing to deliver that same gain for less fee. That is exactly the arms race that has so inflated the sector.