I'm not saying that flagging affects the marketplace.
I'm saying that the whales who are doing flagging have so much Steem and steem power that they're manipulating the steemit platform, by flagging other big accounts.
When I see someone with 300 upvotes and 1 massive flag and a zero balance for the Post there's a problem.
Likewise they have so much steem they could be affecting the marketplace.
RE: Steem Price - $1,61 on Bittrex