In order to sustain the market's mirage of perfection, a kind of causal autism is required among its apologists and devotees. Gains in productivity, and the stock market swelling that follows, must be disconnected from the means by which such gains are so often achieved. In 1997, the writer P.J. O'Rourke addressed a conference held by the archly Libertarian Cato Institute and argued against restraining inequality. In doing so, he revealed a glib disregard for evidence that has become practically a trademark of right-wing economic thinking: "In a world without gaps we'd be all the same. We'd all be the same sex. Who'd get pregnant? Proposing to close the 'wealth gap' is worse than silly. It entails a lie. The notion of economic equality is based on an ancient and ugly falsehood central to bad economic thinking: That there's a fixed amount of wealth. If I have too many cups of tea, you will have to lick the teapot. But wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is expandable...