Trading Excesses

Financial traders extract vast sums of money, but without creating anything new of value.

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Trading Excesses

Financial traders extract vast sums of money, but without creating anything new of value.

CLICK HERE

Trading Excesses

Financial traders extract vast sums of money, but without creating anything new of value.

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So what is the point of this massive volume of currency trading?

Although they produce nothing new or useful, these traders accumulate vast sums of money. As in all markets, they buy as cheaply as they can, and they sell for the highest price possible. Their margins may be small, but the huge sums involved mean huge profits.

But isn’t all that profit good for the economy?

Not at all, because all the rest of us are paying for it. The money these traders accumulate has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is us. In practice this speculative market makes imported goods more expensive and puts up the price of people’s holiday money, too.

So the City isn’t actually making money?

Not making money, because only the government can do that, but accumulating vast sums from elsewhere in the economy. Thy're also tying up even larger sums that could be used for productive activities. And it’s not only the money: all the skills of the clever people working in these markets are unavailable to the productive economy, where they could be adding real value.

What about all the tax these City types are paying? Surely we need that?

That's an illusion! If you allow people to accumulate huge sums without producing anything of value, and then take some of it back in tax, you are still massively losing out. It would be much better to put all that money to a productive use in the first place.

So what is the point of this massive volume of currency trading?

Although they produce nothing new or useful, these traders accumulate vast sums of money. As in all markets, they buy as cheaply as they can, and they sell for the highest price possible. Their margins may be small, but the huge sums involved mean huge profits.

But isn’t all that profit good for the economy?

Not at all, because all the rest of us are paying for it. The money these traders accumulate has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is us. In practice this speculative market makes imported goods more expensive and puts up the price of people’s holiday money, too.

So the City isn’t actually making money?

Not making money, because only the government can do that, but accumulating vast sums from elsewhere in the economy. Thy're also tying up even larger sums that could be used for productive activities. And it’s not only the money: all the skills of the clever people working in these markets are unavailable to the productive economy, where they could be adding real value.

What about all the tax these City types are paying? Surely we need that?

That's an illusion! If you allow people to accumulate huge sums without producing anything of value, and then take some of it back in tax, you are still massively losing out. It would be much better to put all that money to a productive use in the first place.

So what is the point of this massive volume of currency trading?

Although they produce nothing new or useful, these traders accumulate vast sums of money. As in all markets, they buy as cheaply as they can, and they sell for the highest price possible. Their margins may be small, but the huge sums involved mean huge profits.

But isn’t all that profit good for the economy?

Not at all, because all the rest of us are paying for it. The money these traders accumulate has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is us. In practice this speculative market makes imported goods more expensive and puts up the price of people’s holiday money, too.

So the City isn’t actually making money?

Not making money, because only the government can do that, but accumulating vast sums from elsewhere in the economy. Thy're also tying up even larger sums that could be used for productive activities. And it’s not only the money: all the skills of the clever people working in these markets are unavailable to the productive economy, where they could be adding real value.

What about all the tax these City types are paying? Surely we need that?

That's an illusion! If you allow people to accumulate huge sums without producing anything of value, and then take some of it back in tax, you are still massively losing out. It would be much better to put all that money to a productive use in the first place.