This isn't a theoretical question! There have been many large fortunes made recently. They prove the point. Facebook/Google are the obvious example. Companies

This isn't a theoretical question! There have been many large fortunes made recently. They prove the point. Facebook/Google are the obvious example. Companies that are selling stuff for money (spotify, netflix) are bending over backwards to convince investors that this is just pocket money... the real value is in data gathering and monopoly building. Read their prospectus. Netflix's recommendation algorithm narrative was the main focus of their PR for years. There's a reason for this. Why has Tesla's stock price gone insane? Investors are betting that Tesla's data gathering has given them a meaningful edge in autonomous driving. The market value of this edge is (evidently) more than the market value of all other car companies combined. Look to tech acquisitions. Why are free apps like snapchat, whatsapp and such worth billions to acquirers like facebook? Have any paid apps even come close to this market value? No, because spyware, adware and monopoly building are far, far more profitable. Note that I say "profitable" in regards to income and "valuable" in regards to company value. It's true that the economy of buying stuff is big. It just isn't as profitable and therefore not as valuable.