Sorry, I picked the wrong word. If labour is a large part of total costs that's superior to it going to a single person outside the city c.p. etc. etc.
I reject mercantilistic views of economy. They belong in the 1600s where they died.
I'm pretty comfortable abandoning the view. It wasn't built on a strong basis.
Honestly, income inequality is a red herring of left politics and public schooling. If the most prosperous societies have high income inequality, then the question must be asked: does it matter?
Unless you want to design a utopia. That goes swimmingly every time, I promise.
Edit: If income inequality is a consequence of freedom, it's a very, very tiny price to pay. Don't optimize for the economy. Optimize for freedom. Empirically, that's how you create prosperity.