Profit and Zero-Sum

A profit can be constituted within a simple Exchange, namely, when what is received has greater value than what is given. But, one party can also realize a profit even when the exchange is equitable, possibly encouraging some to conclude that, contrary to the thesis that Economics is zero-sum, a profit can obtain in the absence of any corresponding loss. However, others will consider that the increase is with respect to some prior moment, often because in the interim, labor has added value to some previous rawer material. Now, while in some cases, the eventual seller is also the laborer, in others, the latter is an employee of the former. It is at this point that the analysis of the Marxist diverges from that of the Capitalist, discerning in the Labor-Wage exchange of the two parties an inadequacy of Wages to Labor. Still, the Capitalist, in ignoring or even in denying that inequity, remains in agreement with the Marxist that the scenario is a zero-sum game, with respect to which their denial of which elsewhere, e. g. 'a rising tide lifts all boats', is inconsistent.