&gt; But what is the social benefit of the stock markets being synced to the state of the economy at the micro-second &#x2F; nano-second time scale ?<p>This sort of HFT smooths out prices over this time frame. The thing is, as it smooths out the peaks and valleys, the value in doing so decreases as those peaks and valleys are what made it profitable in the first place.<p>&gt;That&#x27;s surely taking things a little too far. Nothing in the real economy changes that fast.<p>Why? Computers have changed the game. We went from mailing our brokers or visiting them in person to calling them to conducting trades over the Internet. The &#x27;real&#x27; economy changes quite quickly.