HFT not a basic evil

Albert Menkveld from Amsterdam's VU, a specialist on (a.o) HFT, wrote a short article for the newsletter of the University of Notre Dame. In it he puts the paper he wrote on the effect of HFT for large Institutional Orders in a regulatory perspective.

Menkveld notes in his article that one of Buffett's close associates called HFT 'evil' as they front run and at little value. Menkveld argues that such 'moral' judgements are of little use to an academic and he points out the result of his research, concluding that HFT does add liquidity for a certain period of time. 

Menkveld cites his own paper (click here) but also cites a paper written all the way back in 1980 on the impossibility of creating an efficient market. As this paper is still relevant, we also put a link to this one in our studies section.

The Menkveld article can be found here.