Only Reason for Time

According to Albert Einstein “…is so that everything doesn’t happen at once”. Consider yourself in the shoes of a timekeeper of athletic events. The stakes are high, consequently the choice of tools for the job imperative. Endurance or sprint? This question is at the forefront when it comes to providing the appropriate accuracy and granularity – seconds, tenths and hundredths of a second for a 100 metre race – hours, minutes and seconds to the marathon.

Regardless, even modern horology makes replay of the photo finish a necessary arbiter of placings on occasions. A definitive answer where all participants are on the same track in the same race. But what of time-trials you may ask? The same deadlock, determined now purely by time and not physical comparison? Well, therein lies the dilemma facing those responsible for oversight of one of the most technically advanced of our industries – the financial markets.

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