Wealth can be created and destroyed. Wealth is created when the investment of time, money, and energy arrives at an endpoint where the profit obtained is greater than the investment made. A simple example: you give your child ten dollars, allowing her to purchase supplies to open a lemonade stand. She builds the storefront, stocks inventory, and perhaps employs her brother to operate the store. In return for your investment, she pays you back plus a handsome dividend (unless you drink all the profits). She is thus rewarded with a profitable ongoing business, and you have maybe twelve dollars instead of ten. Everyone wins; wealth is created.