(September 22, 2016 at 11:09 am)Chad32 Wrote: I have an issue with the part of the quote that states the possession of wealth by another man doesn't hurt me. Given that there is supposed to be a limited quantity of money in the world, which is what gives it value,...
Wealth is not limited to fiat currency. Wealth includes the sum total of tangible and intangible assets, from gold and cattle to various kinds of intellectual property. Wealth increases depending on the the production of new assets and the lasting value (or loss) of exist assets. Productive people create wealth. I believe that needs to be part of any calculus.
The larger point, however, is that one person' increase does not diminish how much another person owns. If Pete owns 5 books and Jim owns 2, then Pete adding one more to his collection doesn't hurt Jim. What you are saying is that Pete's purchase diminishes the number of books available. That does not take into account the fact that new books are written all the time. If enough books are written then the price of books will go down to the benefit of both Pete and Jim (unless of course their collections lose value because of an increase in the supply of books)
