[ElectronVolt]

Farming and industry create wealth. The value of the output is greater than the value of the input and labor. All other fields of endeavor just take a cut.

Yes, but they don't improve wealth by themselves. In the 1700's just about everyone was farming or making something. Science and technology increase efficiency so that each unit of input makes more units of output.

Those "cut takers" can actually enhance efficiency. I've created many analytical software systems that help a corporation plan huge expenditures of money. I take a small cut, but I've saved millions of dollars in waste. Keeping track of what a wealth producer is doing isn't non-essential; it's critical. Any company that doesn't do this will fail.

[BfloGuy]

Those "cut takers" can actually enhance efficiency.

I agree. "Cut taker" is the wrong term. Every person who contributes to the manufacture and sale of a product creates added value (wealth). There are two economic types: wealth creators and wealth consumers.

The largest wealth consumers are government, the health industry and education. There are tons more, of course, but those are the biggies.

[GonzoGOP]

Those "cut takers" can actually enhance efficiency. I've created many analytical software systems that help a corporation plan huge expenditures of money

That was kind of the point I was trying to make with transportation and the accountants. Efficiencies are a very real factor. It is more efficient to grow food in Iowa and ship it to New York than it is to grow the food in New York. And to do that you have to keep track of the shipments and inventories.

But it is essential to remember that efficiency is the elimination of waste, not the creation of value. No matter how efficient you are, if you create nothing, you have nothing. Once the amount of wealth being created in a nation falls below a certain level the standard of living begins to fall, no matter how efficiently you distribute the remaining wealth.