In the 1987 Oliver Stone classic Wall Street, Michael Douglas’ role as the brazen corporate raider, Gordon Gekko, not only won the actor an Oscar for his performance but iconized his character as the ...

One idea unites the left and right lately: a zero-sum view of the world. Unfortunately, nice as it would be to hail a rare instance of ideological harmony, both sides are very much mistaken. Perhaps ...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a public swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, on the steps of City Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) The two ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The psychology of success and wealth and the power of capitalism. “Zero-sum beliefs” are the basis of all socialist ideologies.

To paraphrase (again) the British politician and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay: People always think that life has been improving — up until their own time, that is. Somehow they don’t expect ...

Patricia Andrews Fearon and Friedrich M. Götz from Stanford University and the University of Cambridge have published an important article entitled “The Zero-Sum Mindset”, in which they present the ...

What is the real reason behind Trump’s punitive tariffs? Two beliefs that have frequently wreaked havoc in the past. Throughout history, absurd economic theories have repeatedly caused immense damage.

In our interconnected world, the family dynamic is always evolving. For many, the notion of family expands beyond traditional boundaries to include egg and sperm donors and half-siblings. However, a ...

Some situations in life are zero-sum. On Super Bowl Sunday, two teams take the field but only one will emerge victorious, Vince Lombardi Trophy in hand. In a presidential election, only one candidate ...

Allison Schrager is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering economics. A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, she is author of “An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to ...