Depression and War, what they're good for!

According to Thomas Piketty speaking to Russ Roberts;

Russ [Roberts]: How do average people get wealthy or better off by rich people doing badly? What happened there? What's the mechanism?

Guest [Piketty]: Oh, you seem to ask me--[?] if you have a destruction of wealth, the rate of return to wealth is going to increase, and you know, this creates space for accumulation from people who start from less wealth or 0 wealth and that work[?] for labor incomes they can invest.

Frederic Bastiat, call your office.