Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt

<h2 id="real-wealth-and-virtual-wealth">Real wealth and virtual wealth</h2>
<p>In this book Soddy points out the fundamental difference between real wealth (consumables such as buildings, equipment, energy, food) and virtual wealth, in the form of money and debt. Soddy contends that real wealth is subject to <a href="/facts/Entropy/s52IXeFz">entropy</a> and will rot, rust, wear out, or be consumed over time, while money and debt (as artificial accounting devices) are subject only to the laws of mathematics, not the laws of <a href="/facts/Thermodynamics/q4hIx3yP">thermodynamics</a>. As debt compounding at some rate of interest, virtual wealth will grow effortlessly over time and without limit, instead of diminishing with use as does real wealth. Soddy uses actual occurring examples to demonstrate what he considers a major flaw of prevailing economic theory.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Bioeconomics_(biophysical)/d3wd0ApQ">Bioeconomics</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20140873"><i>Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt: The Solution of the Economic Paradox</i></a> at <a href="/facts/Distributed_Proofreaders_Canada/IXwv9cGy">Faded Page</a> (Canada)</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/roleofmoney032861mbp"><i>The Role of Money</i>, Frederick Soddy (George Routledge & Sons Ltd, 1934. Internet Archive Gutenberg)</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Frederick Soddy and the Doctrine of 'Virtual Wealth'". Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-12-31. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081120224637/http://www.nesara.org/articles/soddy88.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20081120224637/http://www.nesara.org/articles/soddy88.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Eric Zencey, "Mr. Soddy’s Ecological Economy", The New York Times, Opinion Section, April 12, 2009. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/opinion/12zencey.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/opinion/12zencey.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Herman Daly and Anneli Rufus (19 November 2008). "The Crisis". Adbusters. Retrieved November 8, 2014. <a href="/wiki/Herman_Daly" target="_blank">/wiki/Herman_Daly</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt