The Sources of Wealth

According to Boston College professor Jack Falvey of Making The Numbers there are two kinds of jobs, but only one kind creates wealth.  Although you may have a product to sell, without a sales person going out and making a sale, no wealth is created.

Full opinion piece here in Barron's

• Arthur (Red) Motley, the late, great advertising salesman for Parade Magazine, put a finer point on the answer: Before wealth and jobs can be created, somebody has to sell something.  The more advertising Motley sold, the more new production was required, and thus, the more new jobs were created. No politician in Washington can do better.
• THE SOURCE OF WEALTH IS celebrated by those who bring it into the world; the entrepreneurs who sign the front of the paychecks, manage the payroll, buy equipment and services, and give birth to new enterprises. They're very different from those who kiss babies and tax or regulate wealth creation.