No financial mechanism always produces good results, but most produce good results often enough to stay in business. The ones that don’t are gone.
Unlike our government ... unlike any government ...
No financial mechanism always produces good results
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I think you misunderstood my point which was that given their costly nature (and they are quite expensive), one would expect better and more consistent results. If you pay up for something, you generally get quality (i.e., you usually get what you pay for).
most produce good results often enough to stay in business. The ones that don’t are gone.
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Not exactly true. There are thousands of mutual funds in existence, some of which charge high fees, that cannot beat a simple and cheaper S&P 500 ETF. Vanguard founder John C. Bogle has written extensively on this. You may want to read his excellent book “Don’t Count on It”.