Zero sum presumes that there is no net gain or net loss, but trade results in both.
A ‘good’ trade, the kind that economists tout as a benefit, results in both parties gaining, because both parties receive objects they value more than the objects traded away, especially within contexts like comparative advantage.
A ‘bad’ trade, the kind that many leftists observe and are aware of, results in one party gaining at the other’s disproportionate expense - such as capitalists damaging actual economic activity by extracting all the value they can extort from their workers.
A zero-sum trade is theoretically possible, but generally not the case even with the extreme abstraction of currency.
Zero sum presumes that there is no net gain or net loss, but trade results in both.
A ‘good’ trade, the kind that economists tout as a benefit, results in both parties gaining, because both parties receive objects they value more than the objects traded away, especially within contexts like comparative advantage.
A ‘bad’ trade, the kind that many leftists observe and are aware of, results in one party gaining at the other’s disproportionate expense - such as capitalists damaging actual economic activity by extracting all the value they can extort from their workers.
A zero-sum trade is theoretically possible, but generally not the case even with the extreme abstraction of currency.