>Sorry, but somebody is still producing that wealth through their labor.
No, not necessarily.
E.g. You write a novel. It's selling every day online. Whose labor are you collecting?
If you say the customers' labor at their jobs - Yes, if you trace any chain of transactions far enough you can eventually find someone who did some labor. This is kind of meaningless though. It's true even if there's only one working human on the planet.
Basically, you're restating the labor theory of value which is generally not considered credible by economists.
How much of the economy would you estimate works on the "write a novel, sell it passively on a website you created/host/etc. yourself" model? Is this common in your mind or a very narrow example to make a point online?
No, not necessarily.
E.g. You write a novel. It's selling every day online. Whose labor are you collecting?
If you say the customers' labor at their jobs - Yes, if you trace any chain of transactions far enough you can eventually find someone who did some labor. This is kind of meaningless though. It's true even if there's only one working human on the planet.
Basically, you're restating the labor theory of value which is generally not considered credible by economists.