Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The average life span increased from about 40 years to more than 80 and t...
The fact that wealth and prosperity are continuously created for the benefit of almost everyone on the planet by human ingenuity and work is surprisingly not obvious to most people.
Wealth is created by an increase in productivity which means that all goods and services can be purchased with less time spent working to pay for them.
(Until Henry Ford adopted the assembly line, to mass produce cars, automobiles were hand made one at a time and were far too expensive for most people).
(Anyone can create wealth by making, selling, or buying something. Note the BUY. Sellers cannot sell if there are no buyers and if there are no sellers there is nothing to buy. Hence the importance of consumer confidence (buyers) in a modern economy).
Bill Gates and Paul Allen started the Microsoft Corporation in 1975 thereby creating three billionaires and about 12,000 millionaires among Microsoft employees. $1000 worth of Microsoft (MSFT) shares in 1986 were worth $2,800,000 in 2025. They did not steal the wealth from anyone else: they created it by their hard work and ingenuity and sold software that everyone wanted to buy. Many buyers used the software to create more wealth.
As of 2025, Warren Buffett's net worth was US$160 billion, making him the fifth-richest individual in the world. He achieved this by investing in growing companies whenever their shares were undervalued and selling them only if they under performed. He famously held large amounts of cash while waiting for bargain prices.
Joanne Rowling did not become one of the richest women in Britain (Her net worth in 2024 was estimated to be $1.2 billion). She did not force people to buy her Harry Potter books about teenage wizards. People lined up to buy them. They were very pleased to have the chance to read about their favourite fictional characters. Afterwards, they were delighted to watch the movies based on the books. In the process, thousands of people found well paid jobs printing and selling the books and making the movies. And all of them spent their wages on homes, cars, clothes, food and vacations, in turn employing thousands more people.
Wal-Mart Stores was co-founded by Sam Walton in 1962 with a single store in Rogers, Arkansas. It grew to be the biggest private employer in the world as well as the world's largest corporation by revenue. As of January 2025, Walton's family was the richest family in the U.S.A with a net worth of around US$440 billion.
The Free Market competitive economic system (or Capitalism) has proven to be by far the best way to create wealth. It began in the stone age when people began trading things with neighboring tribes and it was always a self organizing system. No one designed or operates the free market and anyone who has tried other economic systems has failed disastrously.
The chart shows that the countries with free markets have outperformed others. The most successful being the English speaking countries, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with western European countries not far behind.
All economies, on average, now produced five times more wealth for the same amount of work than they did in the mid 1800's. This astonishing increase in productivity has also improved the health, education, and longevity of all but a very small percentage of people on the planet. And it started with the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the invention of coal fired steam engines to power ships, locomotives and industrial and agricultural machinery.
This increase in wealth was NOT caused by a redistribution of wealth (taking from one, to benefit another) and NOT by state control of the economies and NOT from wars.
On the contrary, state control has generally destroyed or restricted economic growth and frequently has resulted in draconian restriction on liberty and millions of deaths.
Despite periodic destruction of wealth (caused by incompetent and corrupt governments, pernicious ideologies like communism, and criminals, wars, famines, and diseases) the average citizen of a civilized country is rich beyond the dreams of any emperor. And even the poor of most countries are many times wealthier than they were 100 years ago.
Sure, kings and emperors had more gold and big palaces, but they could not watch a TV show or have a video chat with someone on another continent. They could not fly halfway round the world in less than a day. And no gold-plated horse drawn coach compared to the speed and comfort of a modern automobile (car). Also, they often died early and suffered from terrible diseases which most people living today never knew existed.
Today, all working people are creating wealth directly or indirectly. Savings are invariably invested and this provides the capital to buy land, make machinery or build infrastructure that create jobs and improve productivity, thereby creating more wealth. This includes buying shares in a company, which is simply a means of creating wealth. A well managed company typically becomes more valuable over time and often pays a dividend to shareholders.
Most people also save by paying into a government plan, like the Canada Pension Plan, and often to an employer pension plan. Anyone, including the self employed, may open a self directed, registered retirement plan into which they can deposit a limited amount of tax free funds. These typically are invested in the shares of companies, or government and company bonds (loans) to generate more money to pay larger pensions.
The economy works because most people earn money by some specialized activity which they can provide cheaper than anyone else. They then exchange their product or service to others at a fraction of what it would cost them to do it themselves.
Okay, now how do you start acquiring wealth? It is very simple. Unless you were born rich or can beg money from someone else, you have to make a living so you have no choice but to work. Start systematically saving and start investing early. Make or sell something that others will buy or get a job working for someone who does. You will get more dollars per hour if you have a profession or a trade skill and this means as much education and training as you can afford but make sure the skills you learn will payoff in a good job. Too many people spend time and energy on art courses only to find that very few of these result in high incomes.
Medical doctors are well paid but they spend eight years or more learning the skills. Other professions include science, finance, engineering, dentistry, accounting, the legal profession, nursing, teaching, pharmaceuticals, etc. Do not overlook the skilled trades. Electricians, welders, gas fitters, plumbers, nurses, technicians, even truck drivers often earn more than many professionals particularly in booming businesses such as the oil and gas industry.
