Come resuscitare il mercato delle IPOs negli USA?

Il commento settimanale di Jason Zweig sul Wall Street Journal è una delle mie letture preferite del weekend. Questa settimana si occupa della costante diminuzione del numero delle società quotate negli U.S.A. Alfaobeta aveva ripreso un'analisi di lavoce qualche giorno fa sullo stesso problema in ambito europeo. Ecco alcuni dati dall'articolo di Zweig:
In two-thirds of the years from 1960 through 1996, the number of initial public offerings exceeded the number of stocks that dropped out. Since then, however, there have been more deaths than births among stocks every year: 7,725 stocks have disappeared over that period, while just 4,299 new ones have arisen to replace them 
Esattamente come accade in Europa sembra che siano i costi ad allontanare le società dal mercato:
If IPOs are to resume fostering innovation and creating jobs, the IPO process itself needs to be innovated. These days, big investment banks are rarely willing to underwrite and research firms smaller than $250 million or so in total market value. William Hambrecht of W.R. Hambrecht & Co. estimates that there are 4,000 to 5,000 small but robust growth companies in Silicon Valley that would like to list their shares. "We're looking at literally dozens of companies" that want to sell 20% stakes to the public, raising $10 million to $30 million apiece, he says. But most banks can't be bothered with such piddly deals. Cost is also a deterrent.
Alcuni si spingono a proporre un mercato per le piccole IPOs, una piccola oasi ecologica per permettere alle piccole aziende di crescere, protette dagli "squali" del mondo del trading ad alta frequenza:
Mr. Hambrecht and Mr. Weild have independently proposed a stock exchange dedicated to IPOs. Market-making firms would maintain fair and orderly prices. Such an exchange would also collect and distribute independent research on its listed stocks. To discourage fast trading, Mr. Weild suggests that the stocks be priced at minimum spreads, or differences between buying and selling price, of 10 cents—rather than the one-penny spread prevailing on other exchanges.