All That Money You Lost - Where Did It Go?

A lot of the wealth was just paper wealth - a guess at what something is worth...

"If you once thought your investment portfolio was as good as a suitcase full of twenties, you might suddenly suspect that it's not. In the process, of course, you're losing wealth. But does that mean someone else must be gaining it? Does the world have some fixed amount of wealth that shifts between people, nations and institutions with the ebb and flow of the economy? Jorgenson says no, the amount of wealth in the world 'simply decreases in a situation like this.' And he cautions against assuming that your investment losses mean a gain for someone else - like wealthy stock speculators who try to make money by betting that the market will drop."

All That Money You Lost - Where Did It Go?
by Eric Carvin
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=111&pid=0&sid=1495515&page=1