Exactly, doing more with more requires a large population that spends and innovates.

It is about allocation. It might sound like a heresy, but the "invisible hand" is for a good part a myth. Resource allocation in the hand of just a few is

  a) a hand that indeed tries to hide itself
  b) a hand that cuts of energy to the rest of its body
  c) a dying hand

I would rather have economists in general (not directed at you) think a bit deeper about the unspoken assumptions of their behavioral models, to stop confusing models with laws, and to study humans and groups in a broader sense.