Was Larry Kramer contemplating his own part in the current economic turmoil? At our Future Of Business Media conference, the MarketWatch creator wondered aloud whether the obsessive, minute-by-minute reporting of each and every stock movement can spark market crises.
“There’s always a ticker going by … and there are some people who do, effectively, real-time commentary. Are we causing this problem? Are we overthinking some of these issues? Are we taking on a role that’s problematic? Should we be billboarding the stock price every second and trying to react on the air? Does that present problems?”
*New York Times* Talking Business columnist Joe Nocera quickly seized on the irony of the moment, and joked: “This spoken from the man who founded MarketWatch! Y’know, the guy’s got some nerve! I understand he cashed out already!”
Nocera, whom Kramer called the best in the business, said it’s “pointless to think you can roll back” the demand for up-to-the-minute financial news. But maybe, a good point from a consumer perspective…if you ever had the urge to unplug your life, well, well, you just got your chance…