In Defense of Flash TradingJames E. MillerMises Institute Oct. 29, 2011 |
![]() It's fascinating to watch footage of a trading floor on Wall Street. Here men and women spend hours with their eyes glued to computer monitors while furiously calculating trades that often yield small profits or minimal losses. In the case of Swiss bank UBS trader Kweku Adoboli, it can result in a $2 billion loss and an unfortunate incarceration. The risks run high as trading requires a sizeable amount of dexterity and concentration to be successful in a network of like-minded profit seekers. Still, there is an underlying beauty to the process, as thousands (perhaps millions) of individuals coordinate their knowledge on the allocation of limited resources throughout the world. Read More |