<p>ezbreezy: “This strikes me as a very odd example. The overwhelming majority of financiers make their money not by making markets more efficient but in fact by taking advantage of market inefficiencies (via arbitrage and what not) that the person on Main Street do not see and/or cannot do anything about.”</p>
<p>Sorry to bring this up so late in the game, but I just wanted to clear this up, since this represents a fundamental misunderstanding of finance and economics, and is a big reason people get so frustrated at finance.</p>
<p>Market inefficiencies arise due to barriers to efficiency–bad decisions, mistakes, asymmetric information, regulations, etc. Those who profit from those inefficiencies–arbitrageurs–do, in fact, make the market more efficient. A simple thought: You can buy oil in Chicago at $100 a barrel and sell it at $102 in New York. An arbitrageur then buys at $100 and sells at $102, risk-free profit. But buying in Chicago increases demand on the same supply, raising the price to $101. Selling in New York floods the market with the same demand–bringing the price down to $101, closing the gap. Without arbitrageurs, the market would have remained inefficient. With them, it is more efficient. The allure of risk-free (not free, mind you, because finding these opportunities requires time, capital, and effort) money via arbitrage is the very reason so few opportunities to do so exist. People find inefficiencies and almost instantly close them. The result is that all other market participants (laypeople included) are treated to a fairer, more liquid, and more efficient market. So is arbitrage an evil tool for free money, or is it just compensation for the time, capital, and effort of those who make the markets efficient and fair for all?</p>
<p>The other thing I disagree with is the use of the phrase “overwhelming majority”. In fact, finance is comprised of a lot more than arbitrage. Finance includes things like mutual funds (which work to find the best, most stable investments for mom and pop to retire on) and investment banking (which takes idle money from institutions like pension funds, endowments, and rich people and uses it to fund startups, businesses, biotech research, and inventions that are the driving force behind most innovation and advancement we see today). </p>
<p>It’s incredibly easy to be angry at the vague notion of a Wall Street fat cat profiting off the plight of grandma. But in reality, finance is a critical component of everyday life, from the venture capital funding that allowed biotech researchers to discover the life-saving pills grandma takes, to the pension fund payouts she receives. It’s hard to see it among huge bonus checks and insider trading scandals, but not everyone is evil.</p>