I'm not confusing anything. Yes the previous crash wasn't HFT but current trends will lead to the already rich (the banks) being the HFT's because the land surrounding the exchange is limited and costs will increase (HFT is about land and computer resources, and high speed networks - new models don't factor in as much). It won't be programmers calling the shots, they'll be employed by the banks. Already, the average geek is outgunned (overall competitiveness has decreased).
How do you figure the average geek is outgunned? There are multitudes of small HFT shops staffed mainly by geeks in Manhattan doing pretty well. HFT tends not to be profitable enough for banks to bother with, especially if you have to pay most of your profits to the programmers behind it so they don't leave and do it themselves.
