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The dangers of living in a zero-sum world economy

By Martin Wolf

Published: December 18 2007 19:02 | Last updated: December 19 2007 08:05

Ingram Pinn

We live in a positive-sum world economy and have done so for about two centuries. This, I believe, is why democracy has become a political norm, empires have largely vanished, legal slavery and serfdom have disappeared and measures of well-being have risen almost everywhere. What then do I mean by a positive-sum economy? It is one in which everybody can become better off. It is one in which real incomes per head are able to rise indefinitely.

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