Many believe that prosperity is a zero-sum game. A zero-sum game is one in which for every winner there is a loser. Think of sports or other competitive games. When the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series in 2016, it meant that the Cleveland Indians lost. If you and I play chess, whichever of us wins, the other loses. Because markets are competitive, and because firms (and individuals) compete against each other, some of them will succeed and others will fail. This can make it seem as if markets, like baseball or chess, are zero-sum. One firm or one individual succeeds, but at the expense of other firms or individuals. And if one person were to succeed tremendously – perhaps she becomes a billionaire – it might seem that the only way she could have done so is by defeating a lot of other people: how else could she have gotten all that money?