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Finance is a zero sum game, which makes it similar to a piece of cake or pie. Zero sum is the math concept that states that taking a bigger piece of the pie means that there is less pie for everyone else to enjoy. Finance is not an industry such as computers or genetics where new inventions can create wealth. There is a finite sum for financers to work with, and that is the reason why major banks fight each other over the pie.

When Discovery Card attempted to partner with banks in order to issue their service through banks, Visa and MasterCard partnered and used clout to prevent banks from issuing the product. Discovery Card later won a major lawsuit settlement and the right to issue their card through banks. If the economic pie was limitless and the best products and services would naturally win out, why would Visa and MasterCard risk the threat of a lawsuit and payment of damages. The mathematics behind finance helps to explain.

A basic operation of a bank is to issue mortgages. Laborers must work to pay the mortgage. The bank earns money due to the interest rate on the loan. Does this mean that the bank has created money? The labor of the individual created the wealth. The value to the economy is the result of creating something that can be used or enjoyed. Money is a measurement. It cannot be eaten or lived it. If banks printed limitless amounts of money it would not mean anything without the products of labor to build homes, grow food and weave clothes.