42 THE WORK OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE
ity in a stock exchange, that Mr. Ford has made famous in
automobile production. As a stock exchange grows, it like-
wise produces a concentration of collective intelligence and
current news regarding security values, which in turn increases
the safety of dealings in it.
2. Superior Marketability.—Most unorganized security
markets are intermittent and spasmodic in operation. But,
due mainly to its greater safety of dealings, a stock exchange
market tends to become continuous, with the ability to facili-
tate speedy purchases and sales. For this reason, securities
listed on a stock exchange are as a rule much more negotiable
than those not so listed, even irrespective of the inherent char-
acter of the securities themselves. This is perhaps the most
basic economic service rendered by stock exchanges, and is
of enormous practical significance. Its full value to business
can be gauged only by what happens when the vital quality of
negotiability is lacking. It is a well-known and yet frequently
sverlooked axiom in practical business life that “a thing is
worth what you can get for it.” Your automobile, for which
you paid $2,500 and which you cheerfully inventory at $1,500,
is in reality worth to you only what you can actually sell it for,
whether it be $2,000 or $200. It is, of course, equally true of
securities, that at any given time they are actually worth what
you can sell them for, no more and no less. But there is this
important difference. There is no organized market for used
cars. If you suddenly find you must sell your automobile, you
must call on your friends, and your friends’ friends, and
skilfully talk automobiles to them. You must consult garages
and agencies, and “perhaps in addition spend both time and
money in advertising your car in the newspapers, in order to
find a buyer. In a word, you are forced yourself to create a
market in which to sell your automobile.
But when you wish to sell your 100 shares of United
States Steel, or any other listed stock for that matter, you can
do so instantly and without especial exertion on your part, for
