> a definite net negative to society as far as I can tell.
What did you examine to reach that conclusion? If high-frequency trading were positive for society, what would you expect to be different?
The reason for high-frequency trading to exist is that the sub-penny rule makes it illegal to compete on price so you have to compete on speed instead. Abolishing the sub-penny rule would mean high-frequency trading profits got competed-away to nothing, although frankly they're already pretty close. The whole industry is basically an irrelevant piece of plumbing anyway.
What did you examine to reach that conclusion? If high-frequency trading were positive for society, what would you expect to be different?
The reason for high-frequency trading to exist is that the sub-penny rule makes it illegal to compete on price so you have to compete on speed instead. Abolishing the sub-penny rule would mean high-frequency trading profits got competed-away to nothing, although frankly they're already pretty close. The whole industry is basically an irrelevant piece of plumbing anyway.