Originally posted by GScholz
The notion that there is a limited amount of wealth on this planet, and that "if another country wants more we will get less" is a fallacy.
really?
you must not have a very good notion of how wealth works.
it's not how much money you have. the actual numbers are arbitrary, just a means for keeping score. hell I could take my cash to Canada and have about 30% more dollars. would I be 30% more wealthy?
I make twice as much per hour as my father did, yet he was better off than I am.
the amount of money you have isn't the issue. it's how much more (or less) you have, when compared to others in your economy.
my $40-60k per year just barely gets my family of 5 through a year. but if I moved to some country where average annual income is around $2-300, I could probably be the wealthiest guy around.
wealth is power, you pay people for the services and goods you need. money is just the score card.
wealthier people cost more to hire, and won't sell goods for as cheap a price. why should they? if they aren't in need of the money they can hold out for the price they want.
where poor people are more desperate, when they need money they often need it right away and primarily for goods that are necessary for survival. they don't have near the ability to hold out for a better offer, if they do they might not even be alive when the offer comes up.
you can't have the wealthy without having poor. actually you need a lot more poor people for each wealthy one. for every guy who makes 10 times the average income, you'll have 18 people who make half of the average income.
