The creation of wealth extends far beyond the mere sum of natural resources. It's about the knowledge required to make use of it. Finding it, understanding it, combining it. Knowledge expands the range of our reach and of our ability to re-arrange - to create. In my view, wealth creation has its foundation in the expansion of knowledge.

In other words, materials and how to use materials. How has the worldview of scarcity been updated?

Knowledge does not have the same scarcity properties as physical objects. If there is one harvester, for example, only one farmer can use it. But if there is one new idea for how to harvest crops more efficiently with the harvesters that farmers already have, every farmer that learns of it can use it.

Fossil fuel based energy sources dramatically lowered the cost of food production in terms of how much human effort was dedicated to it. Where the next breakthrough will come from is anyone's guess. That's the nature of capitalism. There isn't a five year plan, and production quotas, but we get there.