Why economy isn't zero-sum

A quick one

One more argument against thinking about the economy as zero-sum: in the recent decades it's been increasingly obvious that information has a lot of value in its own. Whether it's information that's directly usable in producing something, or information used for entertainment, people think it's valuable, so it is valuable.

This means every single silly meme created, a badly done movie, a video game by a small studio, a TikTok dance or a boring YouTube video - all of them have value even if they are not directly related to something physical such as real-estate or food.

Also, business happens when there are two sides exchanging value, meaning there has to be some inequality between them, even if it's just skill or time. Someone needs to want something, and someone else can provide it.

The "people think it's valuable, so it is valuable" thinking is becoming glaringly obvious when you look at the stock market or cryptocurrencies. Those are almost completely separated from actual physical things.