I expect that economic history books will teach that ridiculous stock market dynamics accompany late-stage fiat currency decay.

Over the last decades, people have moved from being investors, to speculators, and now—with the full deployment of prediction markets—gamblers.

What's the difference?

As an investor, your capital flows into an enterprise—a critical mineral mine, an oil rig, a robot manufacturer, a spaceship builder—and the enterprise uses it to try to create more new value. Your funds are used to build a facility to process ore. A well drilled to pull stored energy from the ground. A robotic system's new skill set. Or a communication system and transport platform to Mars. In the pursuit of profit, investment helps direct capital to the most efficient producers of needed or desired goods and services.