Quote from TheFinn:
What purpose do the expectation-setters serve?
If they do their job properly, then they ensure the prices of all assets are broadly in line with the most accurate information and forecasts available. This means that people who use price signals (i.e. everyone who doesn't live in a cave) make better economic decisions - they scale back on things that are expensive and utilise things that are plentiful which can achieve similar ends. Thus, worldwide human productivity is significantly higher than it would be otherwise, due to this more efficient utilisation of scarce resources. Higher productivity = achieving the same output for less inputs, or getting higher output for the same input. So, given the total available input of global human capital, accurate and skilled expectations-setters help to maximise human output. This leads to beneficial outcomes such as lower mortality rates, better education, superior artistic output, greater availability and lower costs of goods, services, healthcare, leisure, relationships etc.
A good example of the opposite is the housing bust. If more people had the first clue about asset price bubbles, and the balls to act on their conviction, it would never have happened and we wouldn't be in the pickle we are in now. The housing bust and current debt crises, government cutbacks, rising taxes and high unemployment are all caused SOLELY by people being incredibly bad speculators, and not giving their capital to be managed by the few people who can speculate well. I.e. there were not enough good traders relative to the atrocious market participants and retail investors who fucked up in epic fashion. The natural response should be to do everything possible to encourage improved trading skill and understanding of markets & risks, not the opposite (which has generally been the policy response).
If you look at countries with highly developed capital markets and less restriction on trade, they tend to have far more of the benefits I mentioned than those countries with undeveloped markets and heavy restrictions on trade, investment, and so on. This is why skilful trading and investing is in most cases one of the most important, profitable, and altruistic activities on the planet.