> It hasn't really been set up this way. It didn't even evolve to be this way. It's ultimately a law of nature: ownership of capital yields exponential growth. The more you start with, the faster you grow. Most other sorts of vocations yield linear growth.
Anything with revenues in excess of expenses has the potential for exponential growth if you use the profits to expand the business. A successful landscaping business can have exponential growth, that doesn't mean each of the guys mowing lawns will be making exponentially more money.
But it has been set up that way in finance. It isn't a law of nature that mutual fund managers make a percentage of the fund as their compensation. The profitability of arbitrage is strongly influenced by the regulatory environment and the amount, timeliness and accuracy of information available to traders without privileged access.
Here's an example. I propose that we make insider trading entirely legal. According to all of the arguments used to justify HFT and the like this is the right choice because it will increase liquidity and more quickly and accurately reflect the true value of securities in their market price. Somebody please tell me why this argument is wrong in a way that doesn't apply equally to HFT.
Anything with revenues in excess of expenses has the potential for exponential growth if you use the profits to expand the business. A successful landscaping business can have exponential growth, that doesn't mean each of the guys mowing lawns will be making exponentially more money.
But it has been set up that way in finance. It isn't a law of nature that mutual fund managers make a percentage of the fund as their compensation. The profitability of arbitrage is strongly influenced by the regulatory environment and the amount, timeliness and accuracy of information available to traders without privileged access.
Here's an example. I propose that we make insider trading entirely legal. According to all of the arguments used to justify HFT and the like this is the right choice because it will increase liquidity and more quickly and accurately reflect the true value of securities in their market price. Somebody please tell me why this argument is wrong in a way that doesn't apply equally to HFT.