经济学人下载:金融界的计算机革命(1)

Leaders
来源于《社论》版块

Masters of the universe
宇宙主宰者

Forget Gordon Gekko. Computers increasingly call the shots in financial markets
忘记葛登·盖柯。越来越多在金融市场上发号施令的是计算机

The job of capital markets is to process information so that savings flow to the best projects and firms. That makes high finance sound simple; in reality it is dynamic and intoxicating. It reflects a changing world. Today’s markets, for instance, are grappling with a trade war and low interest rates. But it also reflects changes within finance, which constantly reinvents itself in a perpetual struggle to gain a competitive edge. As our Briefing reports, the latest revolution is in full swing. Machines are taking control of investing—not just the humdrum buying and selling of securities, but also the commanding heights of monitoring the economy and allocating capital.
资本市场的工作是处理信息，使储蓄流向最好的项目和公司。这使得高级金融听起来很简单；实际上，它是动态的、令人陶醉的。它反映了一个不断变化的世界。例如，如今的市场正努力应对贸易战和低利率。但它也反映了金融内部的变化，在不断的竞争中不断重塑自己，以获得竞争优势。正如简报所述，最新的革命正在全面展开。机器正在控制投资——不仅仅是单调的证券买卖，也是监管经济和资本配置的制高点。

Funds run by computers that follow rules set by humans account for 35% of America’s stockmarket, 60% of institutional equity assets and 60% of trading activity. New artificial-intelligence programs are also writing their own investing rules, in ways their human masters only partly understand. Industries from pizza-delivery to Hollywood are being changed by technology, but finance is unique because it can exert voting power over firms, redistribute wealth and cause mayhem in the economy.
由遵循人类规则的计算机运行的基金占美国股市的35%，占机构股票资产的60%，占交易活动的60%。新的人工智能程序也在以人类主人只能部分理解的方式，编写自己的投资规则。从披萨外卖到好莱坞电影业的各个行业都在被技术所改变，但在金融业是独一无二的，因为它可以对企业施加投票权、重新分配财富，并在经济中造成混乱。

Because it deals in huge sums, finance has always had the cash to adopt breakthroughs early. The first transatlantic cable, completed in 1866, carried cotton prices between Liverpool and New York. Wall Street analysts were early devotees of spreadsheet software, such as Excel, in the 1980s. Since then, computers have conquered swathes of the financial industry. First to go was the chore of “executing” buy and sell orders. Visit a trading floor today and you will hear the hum of servers, not the roar of traders. High-frequency trading exploits tiny differences in the prices of similar securities, using a barrage of transactions.
由于涉及巨额交易，金融业总是有足够的资金尽早实现突破。第一条横跨大西洋的光缆于1866年建成，用来在利物浦和纽约之间传输棉花价格。上世纪80年代，华尔街分析师是Excel等电子表格软件的早期拥护者。从那以后，计算机征服了金融业的大片领域。首先要做的是“执行”买卖订单。今天去交易大厅，你会听到服务器的嗡嗡声，而不是交易员的吼叫声。高频交易利用类似证券价格的微小差异，进行大量交易。