[csense]

> In reality, the pie doesn't actually grow and each time that they take out a slice, there is less pie remaining for everyone else.

If the pie doesn't really grow, why has the world economic output increased so much in the last 200 years?

[grosjona]

How does one measure that? With fiat currency? By the total number of goods produced? How does the quality of output fit into this model?

If you get more of something but quality is lower then it's not necessarily progress. You might need more of that thing to get the same value out of it.