In this article Marshall Blume homes in on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq and the pressures which have faced these uniquely large, open and resilient ‘semi- public’ entities.
The author says that too often over the past 25 years change has been imposed and mandated by government agencies and argues that in future global competition and technology will force the exchanges to become more proactive. In particular there has been foot dragging when it comes to the reduction of spreads.
The article ends with a prediction that the world is moving towards a single global stock market, and with the assertion that the NYSE and Nasdaq can provide the best infrastructure for the most direct and least painful transition to this state.