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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHigh-Speed Trading Isn't About Efficiency—It's About Cheating
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/high-speed-trading-isnt-about-efficiency-its-about-cheating/283677/Greed is good, and high-speed trading is betterif you want to rig the market (Wikimedia Commons)
I wasn't sure I'd heard him right.
I was a senior in high school, and I was staring at NBA legend Red Auerbach. He'd coached the Boston Celtics to nine championships in 10 years, won seven more as an executive, and, a bit less notably, gotten his first coaching job at our school way back when. He was 85 years old, but he lived nearby and had finally agreed to come back to be feted.
We piled into the gym and buzzed as Auerbach ascended the make-shift stage at center court. There were introductions and congratulations and then it was his turn to talk. He was old, but still sharp. He regaled us with an embellished, if not apocryphal, story about how his proudest coaching victory had come at our school. That was back in 1941, and the score had been something like 10 to 8. There was also something about yelling at the son of a senatorthis was a preppy, all-boys school in Washington D.C.for trying an around-the-back pass.
Then Auerbach turned to life lessons. "Everybody always asks me how to gain a competitive edge," he said, "and I'm always surprised because the answer is so obvious." Eighteen-year old me knew where this was going. He was going to tell us to work hard, that successful people prepare for their luck, yada, yada, yada.
"You cheat."
Our teachers looked confused, then horrified. They kept waiting for Auerbach to say he was just kidding, that of course there's no substitute for hard work. He didn't. Instead, he calmly explained that if you're playing a better fast-breaking team, you should install nets so tight that the ball gets stuck. Or if you're playing a faster baseball team, you should water the basepaths till they turn into muddy quagmires that nobody can run on. But most of all, he wanted to make sure we didn't misunderstand him. He cleared his throat, and said, "So, if you want a competitive edge, just cheat." Then he walked off stage, and the mayor's mother, who was inexplicably there, led us in a solemn rendition of America the Beautiful.
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High-Speed Trading Isn't About Efficiency—It's About Cheating (Original Post)
xchrom
Feb 2014
OP
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)1. Cheating - The Epitaph For The American Empire
eom
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)6. rec. n/t
Agony
(2,605 posts)2. Quote Spam
I think that I am supposed to feel bad for them?
http://www.nanex.net/aqck/2817.html
CanonRay
(14,113 posts)3. Let's play Monopoly. I get to make up the rules.
Guess who will win? That's the "free" market today.
rock
(13,218 posts)4. I had a small-bnusiness boss once who frequently said
"All I want is a fair advantage."
thesquanderer
(11,991 posts)5. Wall Street is rigged? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!
The article does make a good point about the extra benefit of imposing a small transaction tax.
TheMathieu
(456 posts)7. Horrendous lack of regulation still ongoing on Wall Street.
This is one frightening example.
The only rules are the laws of nature. And even those can be bent at times.
One loser's corruption is another winner's competitive advantage.