copy pasted from a response to another person arguing the same fallacy, and the same point that several others are pointing out. me >This is the most egregious

copy pasted from a response to another person arguing the same fallacy, and the same point that several others are pointing out. me >This is the most egregious of misdefinitions of a ponzi scheme that gets thrown around because it literally fits the profile of every security and commodity in existence. You are describing the law of supply and demand in an open market place. other person >> Surely we can agree that every security in existence does not solely rely on inflows from new investors in order to pay out old ones. me >>> Surely we cannot agree on this. Explain to me what would happen if I was holding an Oz of gold or copper and suddenly the entire bid side of the market dissapeared (ie there was no inflows to the market). What is the new market clearing price for the commodity. 0. That's literally what buying a thing is(in all cases and for everything). It's a an asset inflow exchanged for an asset outflow. Now replace gold or copper with any equity. Let's assume one that doesnt pay a dividend not to complicate things. Literally nothing changes. The sale value of your equity is zero when there are zero inflows to the market.