Comment by scubbo

> If you own equities (individual stocks, ETFs, mutual funds) then you benefit.

Right, yes - I as a relatively-wealthy individual certainly benefit from an effective market. But does _society_ benefit from the existence of a stock market in the first place? Does the increase in wealth for those at the top outweigh the comparative-loss (stagnation relative to inflation) to those who can't afford to buy-in? I find it hard to morally support a system whose justification boils down to "it redistributes wealth to the wealthier without providing any net-increase in quality of life".