“If capital markets are seen to be corrupt then capital markets will stop serving their purpose. . .”
The stock exchanges have become casinos for short term speculation, not centers for raising capital to finance long term investments in productive assets. One hundred years ago the equity markets were financing 20 year investments in factories, ships, and railroads. Today computer programs drive security trading allowing traders to skim billions of investment dollars out of pension funds and the 401K’s of average citizens. Stock churning by computer programs does nothing to improve the wealth of the country although it does make many of the partners at Goldman Sachs multimillionaires.
And the steel mills, international telegraphy and oil production and refineries, and automobiles.