2 ms·
Note that you don't have to cheat or scam the stock market in order to cause negative externalities. The same driving force of everyone trying to be the best in
by yason 14y ago
Note that you don't have to cheat or scam the stock market in order to cause negative externalities. The same driving force of everyone trying to be the best instead of just good enough emphasizes short-term quick wins over long-term steady gains. It causes unconstructive volatility and noise in the stock prices, ultimately delivered by HFT in the recent years, which can't be ignored even by those who still wish to go by the more moderate strategy.
It's my perception that if everyone tried to merely be good enough to some respectable standards instead of trying to exclusively win, it would benefit the overall picture of the economy/society/activity/whatever more.
- lsc 14y agoI think most people trading in the stock market would be pretty happy with 'second best' I mean, I completely agree that the short term focus of the stock market destroys a great deal of the value it could be providing in it's intended role (efficiently allocate capital) - but then, I don't have good ideas how to fix that. I think that problem is way deeper and more prevalent than people being dissatisfied with being 'second best' (though, I think, in the short term, the stock market looks awfully zero-sum, while in the long term, that doesn't seem to be the case nearly as much. Second place looks a lot better in a game that is not zero sum than in a game that is.)