… is from page 167 of Phil Gramm’s, Robert Ekelund’s, and John Early’s excellent 2022 book, The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate; here the authors summarize the correct understanding of economists and other thinkers writing in what my colleague Peter Boettke calls the “mainline” tradition:
The wealth of a nation and its people came from enhanced productivity. Greater output per capita led to higher wages and incomes, greater consumption, and increased capital accumulation. This virtuous process, led by entrepreneurs and innovators, would swell production, granting anyone and everyone at least a chance to prosper.