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That's why we have a stock market, a futures market, businesses, etc. The commenter above gave an example of a real estate investor. That is a particular type o

That's why we have a stock market, a futures market, businesses, etc. The commenter above gave an example of a real estate investor. That is a particular type of investor which has to deal with some particular kinds of risk that not everyone is suited to or wants to deal with. For those people, there are other investments they would be good at, and they should engage in.

mindslight 7y ago
You didn't actually respond to my points, but just pointed out the existence of other types of business where the centralizing flow is less obvious than real estate.
- tathougies 7y ago
  If everyone participates in acquiring assets, then everyone builds wealth. Your claim is that real estate builds wealth for one person (or in aggregate, particular people). This is certainly true. If there are 300 million Americans, then, if everyone were a landlord holding 4 other properties (other than their house), only 60 million Americans could benefit from real estate. However, the other 240 million could benefit from owning a business, or owning a stake in one, or owning any of the myriad of assets available to invest in. Societal wealth is built by one person building a lot of wealth based on others paying him, and just replicating that millions of times over the population.
  - mindslight 7y ago
    > Your claim is that real estate builds wealth for one person (or in aggregate, particular people). No, leaving out the critical piece does not represent my claim. Rather you're just shoehorning into the traditional narrative that each person trying to build the most individual wealth inductively extrapolates to society as a whole becoming richer. The critical part of my claim is: > For the larger system consisting of all 6 people, it's a net loss Not merely a loss for 5 and a gain for 1, but a net loss for all 6 parties summed together. Draw a boundary around them and analyze cross-boundary flow. The interest payments flow away, meaning the group is worse off even though the landlord individually benefits. Our economy is based around debt rather than positive wealth. For someone to have financial wealth, others must be in debt. The shining ideal where everybody is financially independent is impossible under the current system. And the more the financial bubble grows in relation to actual physical wealth, the truer this becomes.

mindslight 7y ago

You didn't actually respond to my points, but just pointed out the existence of other types of business where the centralizing flow is less obvious than real estate.

tathougies 7y ago
If everyone participates in acquiring assets, then everyone builds wealth. Your claim is that real estate builds wealth for one person (or in aggregate, particular people). This is certainly true. If there are 300 million Americans, then, if everyone were a landlord holding 4 other properties (other than their house), only 60 million Americans could benefit from real estate. However, the other 240 million could benefit from owning a business, or owning a stake in one, or owning any of the myriad of assets available to invest in. Societal wealth is built by one person building a lot of wealth based on others paying him, and just replicating that millions of times over the population.
- mindslight 7y ago
  > Your claim is that real estate builds wealth for one person (or in aggregate, particular people). No, leaving out the critical piece does not represent my claim. Rather you're just shoehorning into the traditional narrative that each person trying to build the most individual wealth inductively extrapolates to society as a whole becoming richer. The critical part of my claim is: > For the larger system consisting of all 6 people, it's a net loss Not merely a loss for 5 and a gain for 1, but a net loss for all 6 parties summed together. Draw a boundary around them and analyze cross-boundary flow. The interest payments flow away, meaning the group is worse off even though the landlord individually benefits. Our economy is based around debt rather than positive wealth. For someone to have financial wealth, others must be in debt. The shining ideal where everybody is financially independent is impossible under the current system. And the more the financial bubble grows in relation to actual physical wealth, the truer this becomes.