MusingsAs I mentioned previously, Paul Krugman is worried about the rise of the New American Plutocracy. If you wait long enough, the Plutocrats have kids, which poses some interesting inter-generational questions about upward mobility in our society.
There’s a lively (as always) discussion over at Brad DeLong’s blog, along with a reprint of Krugman’s op-ed piece.
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I don’t see any assumption being made about the “zero-sum” nature of the game (perhaps I missed something).
There IS an assumption that the game ought to be played on a more-or-less level playing field (you know: “meritocracy vs. aristocracy” and all that). But that argument has a long pedigree, going back to the Founding Fathers.
Wealth and power being a “zero-sum game” is a common fallacy of various “social-scientists” and self-proclaimed experts. You as a physicist and (presumably) a mathematician should know that.