What is the Primary Purpose of the Stock Market?

Executive Summary

• The stock market is presented as one thing, but in reality something very different in terms of its effect and who benefits from its existence.

Introduction

Stock allows companies to raise money from investors, but the stock market is also about enriching the senior members of these companies by offering them stock options, which do not show as compensation, which has driven extraordinarily high levels of executive compensation. In order to drive stock prices up, and to allow these options to be exercised, companies have the incentive to make false claims to the market and to customers and to make decisions that push up the stock price in the short term. Under a public banking system, companies could simply go to the government for interest-free loans. This would vastly reduce employment in the financial sector, which is far too high.