Maybe you think “I’m just one individual. I have no power. What can I do?” consider that power and resources can sometimes come in unexpected ways. For example, Brad Katsuyama was a humble Canadian stock trader who realized he was losing money thru tactics that, though nominally legal, were nonetheless rigging the outcome of his trades and costing him a lot of money. He (and a small group around him) spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what was happening. Then he decided to do something about it.
He decided to start his own stock exchange and to spend a lot of effort to make it fair. He was asked, how could you possibly think, with your small resources, you could get anyone to use your exchange? How could you possibly play with the “big boys” and be successful trying to bring about change in this way? Yet he is being successful. The comment I saw on 60 minutes is, when you’re in the middle of large amounts of dishonesty (even if it’s legal) and “someone walks in the door who is actually trustworthy, he has enormous power”.
To read more:
Is the U.S. stock market rigged? Steve Kroft reports on a new book from Michael Lewis that reveals how some high-speed traders work the stock market to their advantage.