Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said that the U.S. tax system needs an overhaul to benefit wage earners versus speculators. I agree with his semantics but disagree with his solution. Speculation is akin to gambling, which is quite different from investment. Investment creates jobs and ultimately is the biggest boon for wage earners. Therefore it would make sense to increase taxes dramatically on short term capital gains, and to keep the tax rates low on long term capital gains. This would make these algorithmic trading programs far less prevalent to the benefit of long term investment that allows for job creation. Unfortunately it is my impression that Stiglitz is lumping speculation and investment together which makes no sense whatsoever.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/stiglitz-says-u-s-taxes-need-overhaul-to-fix-policies.html