A reader (well, this Pulitzer-winning genius newspaper columnist of a reader), e-mails after reading my book:

From the very beginning of financial capitalism, the goal seems to have been to beat the market, which is to say, anticipate and profit the upside and downside of the market—not the industry or business of the stock traded. Basically, to make money on nothing, returning no value to the world. I always thought the goal of the stock market was to capitalize growing businesses so they could return value to the world. …