We need to ask if the rich’s incomes are conditional upon contributing to the production of goods and services or based merely on controlling assets that others need. Money is not wealth. It is a claim on goods and services produced for sale by others, so how people get their money is important. The money pages of newspapers encourage us to think of the rewards from ‘investments’ as rewards for prudence and smartness, which will enable us to be independent, but they are actually encouraging dependence based merely on power.
