To me, "real wealth" is something that is tangible. This means food you can eat, cars you can drive, computers that function. Thus, the real wealth that we create is equal to the value of raw materials we get from the Earth plus the value of the labor put into the goods (but only to the extent that the labor makes the goods better).
Unfortunately, people have long tried to make their pocketbooks worth more without resorting to those two inputs. They want something that goes up in value without actually requiring new raw materials or new labor. They want something to be worth more just because. This type of "free wealth" idea usually leads to bubbles.
Suppose you have a pile of worthless crap and the rest of the world has a pile of useful stuff. If you can convince someone to buy your worthless crap, it is still worthless crap. But you suddenly have something of value (their money or whatever was used for barter). In the end, the world's REAL wealth is the same after this transaction: there is still the same amount of worthless crap and the same amount of useful stuff. But, here is the catch, there is an APPARENT new value created in anyone who has that worthless crap. It appears like the world is wealthier. You personally gained, and the person you sold the worthless crap THINKS he gained. As long as he can fool a 3rd party into buying it, he did gain. Yet now two people gained, a 3rd thinks he did, and yet there was no real gain in the world. The pyramid scheme continues and eventually it comes crashing down when it is finally realized that it was, all along, worthless crap. The apparent wealth vanishes. But the real wealth never changed.
It happened to tulips in the 1600s. (First recorded bubble).
It happened to railroads in the mid 1800s.
It happened to land all around the world at various times.
It happened to internet stocks.
It happened to housing.
It'll keep on happening. Thats the American way. Note: most of these examples weren't entirely worthless crap. They had real value. But the pyramid scheme was in making the apparent value far greater than their true value.