Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

many human and material resources. Some are mine, others I
obtained through contractual agreements with their owners.
I compensated the land owner with a freely agreed upon price;
I gave the worker his best offer (if he had had a better one, I would
not have obtained his services); I paid the power and telephone
companies, and the providers of fertilizer, insecticides, and
various raw materials. Finally, I paid for government services
through my taxes.
All these contributions to the production process are settled
accounts, and the final bushel of coffee, crystal bowl, or transis-
tor radio is mine alone to peacefully dispose of as I wish. My
remuneration is residual, not contractual; it is speculative, for pro-
duction always takes place with the expectation that the process
will not fail, that the product will satisfy consumers and that its
price will be greater than the sum of expenses; but it could turn
out that it does not cover expenses, in which case, the difference
is my loss.
Reciprocally accepted norms of conduct establish the rules for
the legitimate acquisition of property rights. The very acts of pro-
duction and contractual exchange determine the pattern of own-
ership that will result; that is, how the wealth produced will be
distributed.
We must remember that production and distribution are one and
the same act, just as a purchase and a sale are different sides of
the same coin. The observance of the rules is precisely what deter-
mines the legitimacy of the rights acquired. Ex-post redistribu-
tion of wealth is tantamount to changing the rules of the game after