Wealth condensation

Wealth condensation is a theoretical process by which, in certain conditions, newly-created wealth would tend to become concentrated in the possession of already-wealthy individuals or entities. According to this theory, those who already hold wealth have the means to invest in new sources of creating wealth, thus are the beneficiaries of the new wealth.

Some advocates believe this theory applies to democratic countries with free market economies, which they claim exemplify the old phrase "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

This theory is similar to the "law of the centralization of capital" posited by Marx.

Advocates of free market economics generally believe that this theory does not apply to democratic countries. They point to the United States as the single best disproof of the theory, on the grounds that its middle class is the most prosperous in recorded human history. Some go further, claiming that ever America's "poor people" are envied by the "middle class" of non-market countries abroad.