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When rich person pays others to, let's say, build a luxurious castle, the money is both redistributed back to the economy AND the castle is there to use, for a few centuries at least. That's how investing* makes the society wealthier over time, and promoting consumption instead is nuts.

* There is a caveat that it should be a new investment rather than a purchase of the existing one, the latter is zero-sum.



In the latter case, the person who sold the castle can use the money to build a new castle.


Sure, but they can also choose not to do that, so the purchase doesn't necessarily increase overall wealth.




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