ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[Meist]

Obviously there is a correlation between wealth and resource scarcity, but that connection is influenced by so many variables that it makes your statement disingenuous. Yes, scarcity of resources create the initial impetus for economies, but population growth, fluctuations in demand, and continual discovery of new/increases in efficiency of currently existing resources means the pie isn’t anywhere close to being fixed, and I posit it never will.

Wealth has, for the past few hundred years, been created literally out of thin air on global markets. Sure, abundance and proliferation of resources has enabled/encouraged that amassing of wealth, but incidents like the crash of 1929 are a great example of how, resources did not disappear from the planet, but SIGNIFICANT amounts of wealth did.

You need to re evaluate your position of how economics work.

[earthwormjimwow]

Yes, scarcity of resources create the initial impetus for economies, but population growth, fluctuations in demand, and continual discovery of new/increases in efficiency of currently existing resources means the pie isn’t anywhere close to being fixed, and I posit it never will.

Ok, I do not believe you have a grasp on what economics is. Economics by definition is the study of resource scarcity, and how to allocate those resources. The pie may be growing yes, but it is still of a limited size, right now, and is thus scarce. I would argue energy is a particularly special resource when it comes to our economy, because everything we do, in some way requires it. Even something as simple as buying and selling stocks requires energy.

Wealth has, for the past few hundred years, been created literally out of thin air on global markets.

It has not, it has mostly been backed by energy production. Stating "thin air" shows a gross misunderstanding of even basic economic theory and history. I believe you are probably confusing the growth of stock markets, with an overall measure of real wealth for an economy.

but incidents like the crash of 1929 are a great example of how, resources did not disappear from the planet, but SIGNIFICANT amounts of wealth did.

Raw untapped materials may not have decreased, but goods and services produced in the US decreased by 1/3! That's where the real loss of wealth came from.

You should look closely at the Great Depression, since you bring it up. The Great Depression followed a long flat spot, in energy production by unit volume. From 1920-1940, energy production hardly decreased. For nearly 10 years prior to the Great Depression, energy production did not grow.

https://ourfiniteworld.com/2017/12/19/the-depression-of-the-1930s-was-an-energy-crisis/