Equities represent shares in real assets: factories, patents, etc.  A pedantic discussion of where accountants draw the line on the definition of capital does not change the point: central banks have printed trillions and participate in capital markets.<p>The SNB experienced a massive capital loss when abandoned their peg from 2011 in early 2015.   They entered and exited their positions due to politics and global capital distortions.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2015-07-31&#x2F;snb-posts-first-half-loss-providing-critics-with-more-ammunition" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2015-07-31&#x2F;snb-posts-...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;economist-explains&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;economist-explains-13" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.economist.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;economist-explains&#x2F;2015&#x2F;01&#x2F;ec...</a><p>It is a tautology to suggest that a market price is by definition fair - after all it was agreed by both buyer and seller.   But markets themselves can be unfair - in the most basic sense, by the participation of shills.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Shill" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Shill</a><p>And in our current economic environment: the concept of too big to fail.  Politically, we&#x27;ve accepted an asymmetric reward structure for some market participants.   This results in market distortion and unfairness to others.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Too_big_to_fail" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Too_big_to_fail</a>