Re: Is the stock market +EV?
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In theory though, scarce resources are limited, and humans could be in an environment where you have to take someone else's wealth to have any wealth of your own.
For the time being though, it seems as though the human population to natural wealth ratio still allows non zero-sum growth for multiple societies, simultaneously.
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There is no "natural wealth". All wealth is created through the "sweat of your brow". Natural resources are a nice plus, but it's work that translates any resource into wealth. The U.S. has more wealth primarily because of an economic system that rewards work, and a political system that allows you to keep (most) of the results of your work. It's not a zero sum game, work creates new value.
Fifty years ago African nations were wealthier than Asian nations. It makes sense, Africa has tremendous natural resources, Asian nations are burdened by too many citizens, and not enough resources. The last fifty years African nations have typically been run by numerous kleptocrats, mass murderers, white racists, and incompetent socialists. Asian nations embraced capitalism and (mostly) democratic freedoms.
Fifty years later, the average asian is many times wealthier than the average african.
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