Why Money Obsession Is Keeping You Poor
Many people tend to view the economy solely in terms of money,
an obsession that prevents them from understanding
how the economy truly functions.
The real economy is fundamentally about real resources,
real people doing real work and utilizing tangible materials.
The Flaws of Money-Centric Policy
This “money-centric” mindset isn’t just found among ordinary people;
it’s prevalent among economists and world leaders
who manage our nations’ economies.
This becomes painfully evident during times of global crisis:
- The 2008 Financial Crisis: This crisis resulted in a massive upward redistribution of wealth. The primary solution deployed was slashing interest rates to zero and printing money through quantitative easing—purely monetary policies.
- The COVID-19 Pandemic: Another massive economic crisis followed by another massive upward redistribution of real resources. Again, the solution was heavily reliant on monetary policy: printing huge amounts of money and dropping rates to zero.
Economists continually rely on money-centric solutions
and ignore the shifts happening with real, tangible resources.
Fifteen years after the 2008 crash,
it should be obvious that economists have overestimated
the power of monetary policy to fix systemic structural problems,
resulting in falling living standards
for the middle and working classes.
The Illusion of Printing Money
There is a historical analogy to the way we treat money today.
In medieval history, theological debates arose over
whether making images of God would cause people
to confuse the statue or picture for the actual deity.
In the modern era, money has become a new religion,
and people constantly confuse money for real resources.
When the government printed and distributed a trillion pounds
during the pandemic without altering any underlying real resources,
the predictable outcome was:
- A severe inflation crisis.
- A massive increase in asset prices.
Despite this predictable reality,
the media narrative at the time naively assumed that simply
putting money in everyone’s bank accounts
would trigger an economic boom.
Money is just a spreadsheet; it balances credits and debts.
It is not equivalent to real resources.
Real Resources vs. Economic Growth
The assumption that printing money creates economic growth
is tied to flawed economic policies that prioritize building
and growing without addressing resource limits.
We do not currently live in a world with endless unused resources.
Unlike historical periods of aggressive geographical expansion
(which relied on displacing existing populations to take their land),
today’s resources are largely accounted for and fully utilized.
The Zero-Sum Reality of Current Growth
If you want to build more houses or infrastructure,
you cannot magically spawn the materials and labor out of thin air.
- The resources required must be taken from somewhere else.
- The builders required to build new homes are currently occupied doing renovations and extensions for wealthy homeowners.
To build new resources, someone else has to consume less.
From an individual’s perspective,
having millions of pounds means you can outbid someone else
for land and labor to build a house.
However, from a societal perspective where all resources
are already utilized, you cannot grow the economy
without redistributing those resources from
those who currently hold them.
The Need for Wealth Distribution
Currently, a tiny fraction of the population increasingly owns all
the resources and assets, engaging in massive luxury spending.
To achieve genuine economic growth that benefits society
as a whole, we must reduce the consumption of the ultra-rich.
- In the short term, the economy operates as a zero-sum game.
- Everything is owned; you cannot go into the wild and chop down unowned trees to build a house.
- Growth requires taking resources from the people who already own them—the extremely wealthy.
If the focus remains solely on money
and the government attempts to borrow from the rich to fund growth,
the rich will only lend at a profit,
capturing the growth for themselves.
Conclusion
Money centrism creates the illusion that we can grow the economy
at no cost to anyone.
In reality, we exist in a world of limited real resources.
Those real resources are currently being aggressively transferred
away from the middle class, the working class,
and public services toward the super-rich.
If everyday people do not focus on protecting their share
of real resource distribution, those who generate
massive passive incomes will continue
to increase their share over time.
Money is not the only thing that matters—protecting your share
of real resources does.
