Considering how much of the economy is derivatives, options, and futures trading, this isn't exactly a surprise. I'm no economist but the fact that we're using

Considering how much of the economy is derivatives, options, and futures trading, this isn't exactly a surprise. I'm no economist but the fact that we're using less of the most fundamental resources available despite a growing population doesn't seem like improving efficiency in aggregate, it just seems like decreasing activity masked by the inflated aggregated metrics about the 'economy'. A lot of money moves around nowadays and relatively little of it is actually put toward something "real", instead being diverted to quant firms' operational costs and their employees' bank accounts.