The stock market is controlled by algorithms that are fighting with each other

Re:The stock market is controlled by algorithms that are fig... by mmodahl on Thursday May 12, 2011 @11:19PM (#2543408)

"One day a man invents a telescope .... He provides no net-wealth to society as a whole"

Financial incentive drives creation. Programable gate arrays that can keep a limit order book drive sales of the cards. If more cards are sold, they get cheaper. If they are cheaper, they are more accessible for medical imaging.

What impact on the national fiber network has the Spread line had? What has it taught us?

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Re:The stock market is controlled by algorithms that are fig... by cma on Thursday May 12, 2011 @11:36PM (#2543449)

Sometimes the Randian suggestion doesn't meaningfully differ from the caricature of Keynes: "dump a portion of production into the ocean to help the economy."

World War II spurred development of new metal alloys, better vehicles, and thousands of other innovations. Does that make Hitler a hero? Was war the only path?

(Sorry, I had to Godwin it before this thread got too long; the more general war analogy isn't too far off though: $300-million in heavy-equipment laden fiber laying probably resulted in some injury--is it too much to ask that we both get the beneficial externalities of R&D and put in the fiber for a useful purpose in the first place?)

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