Wealth: Finite or Infinite resource?

I was recently discussing the topic of wealth being a finite or infinite global resource.

I was at first convinced that wealth is finite, that while one may claim to have "created" wealth the truth is that the wealth had not been "created" but rather transfered from one wealth holder to another and that there is only so much wealth available, a finite amount of global wealth.

If wealth is finite then we all may be in for serious trouble as fewer and fewer people control larger and larger portions of wealth leaving less to be spread between more and more people.

As anyone that has played the board game "Monopoly" knows, the winner of the game can be predicted long before the game ends, as one player amasses the majority of properties and money the remaining players are left at such a disadvantage they are no longer competetive.

I am now starting to wonder if wealth is infinite and can be created.

If it were possible to convince people that say "chicken feathers" were of great value and people were willing to trade labor and services for chicken feathers has wealth been created by increasing the perceived value of chicken feathers. Thereby causing people to expend physical effort in exchange for something with a "perceived" value?

Could perceived value actually "create" wealth or is wealth "created" thru the expenditure of human energy by providing a human with the chance to trade labor and services in exchange for items (chicken feathers) that are believed to have value?

EXP: I will "pay" you three "chicken feathers" (with a perceived value) if you will dig a ditch for me.

EXP: I can "earn" three "chicken feathers" (with a perceived value) by digging a ditch.

I am interested in knowing if other readers believe wealth is finite and simply transfered from one to another, or if wealth can truly be "created"?

[edit on 11-12-2008 by deepred]

Im going with infinite, since we could easily mine asteroids or other planets for more resources to convert into wealth.

So, infinite is where im going

Wealth is indeed infinite as far as us mortals are concerned. Wealth is created by two things: either labor, or from ideas. Labor creates tangible things, i.e., and machinist creates parts that have value to others. Ideas are a slightly different animal, they are the truest form of wealth creation, and computer programming is a wonderful example of it. Bill Gates (love him or hate him) created a tremendous amount of wealth with the idea of a standardized computer software platform. Through his idea, others were able to create other programs to enhance peoples lives, giving value to many, MANY people who's time was now far more efficient.
In the end, all we have to offer is our time, and that can be measured by either physical or mental standards of output. All things that we do from a business perspective, however, create wealth, or we wouldn't do them _javascript:icon('').
"Wealth" is just another word for work that is now tangible.

There is only finite wealth because there are finite resources that we are capable of getting to.

Some charlatans might try to claim that there is the possibility for infinite money, but TRUE wealth is always tied to resources, and therefore finite.

Originally posted by k-string
There is only finite wealth because there are finite resources that we are capable of getting to.

Some charlatans might try to claim that there is the possibility for infinite money, but TRUE wealth is always tied to resources, and therefore finite.

But physical labor has a value and is what I think could be called infinite.

reply to post by deepred


Wealth can also be linked to having a product someone wants. Look at Bill Gates, who created software to make home computers easier to use. Home computers are not a necessity, but most everyone has them. This has made Bill Gates extremely wealthy without mining for resources.
The founder of Dominoes Pizza is a billionaire, as he found college kids wanted the product delivered to them. Very few places did that, and he filled a niche with an inexpensive product. Again, no resources were mined, and people do not need pizza to live on (although the dorm food may give one reason to think otherwise).

Those are two of many ideas that happened with a product that is not needed to live on. (Hula-Hoops, Mood Rings, Pet Rocks, Slinky's, Tootsie Rolls, etc all products that made someone vastly wealthy.)

Now this is an interesting thought... people have infinite wealth only if they choose to. But people can waste and squander what seems to be a vast and limitless amount of wealth if they do so please just by careless acts and selfishness.