How you perceive the likely billion merger in the works between the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Deutsche Börse (DB) might well depend on whether you are a glass half-empty or glass half-full type of person. The former would argue that, especially where the NYSE is concerned, this is merely the best effort that can be made by two aging organizations struggling to remain relevant in a high-tech financial world that finds them gradually less essential. The latter, however, would argue that the proposal is a strategic bet by two important organizations that want to stay one step ahead of an increasingly global, interconnected and uniform financial market.  The combined organizations would make up the world’s largest exchange. In truth, of course, it is a little of both. Since the 1970s, the U.S.…