Being John Bogle IV

Here is Mr. Bogle again in chapter one of, Enough. True Measures of Money, Business, and Life:

Over the past two centuries, our nation has moved from being an agricultural economy, to a manufacturing economy, to a service economy, and now to a predominantly financial economy. But our financial economy, by definition, deducts from the value created by our productive businesses. Think about it: While the owners of business enjoy the dividend yields and earnings growth that our capitalistic system creates, those who play in the financial markets capture those investment gains only after the costs of financial intermediation are deducted. Thus, while investing in American business is a winner's game, beating the stock market before those costs is a zero - sum game. But after intermediation costs are deducted, beating the market — for all of us as a group — becomes a loser's game.

Can a nation the size of America sustain itself without production?