The presence of intermediaries in markets completely fucks them up, to use a technical term.

yup, and then the kiss of death... when the bets start on events.

look at sports, how many thrown games!

there's your precious 'market forces' aka invisible hand, the collective power to distort reality by the pressure of waves of wild hunches and greed-crazed schemes.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty