I think they mean "more efficient" like the cotton gin made the cotton industry more efficient. By reducing the labor involved in processing cotton, the compan

I think they mean "more efficient" like the cotton gin made the cotton industry more efficient. By reducing the labor involved in processing cotton, the companies that used cotton gins could eek more profit from every acre of production. HFT doesn't "wring the waste" of inefficiency back into the market, but into the hands of the HF trader. HFT does benefit normal market traders, but I'm not sure to what extent.