The value of corporations, too, depended in part on their profits and appreciation of assets. But since the chief assets of the railroads were paper bought and sold on financial markets, the ability to control and manipulate the value of that paper became a new way to make money, very large amounts of money. In the long run, the value of that paper depended on the profitability of the corporation, but in the short run insiders could profit from unprofitable companies. Rather than indicating a profitable corporation, rising stock values might indicate the diversion of borrowed money to
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