Where is the Wealth of Nations?: Measuring Capital for the 21st CenturyThe book presents estimates of total wealth for nearly 120 countries, using economic theory to decompose the wealth of a nation into its component pieces: produced capital, natural resources and human resources. The wealth estimates provide a unique opportunity to look at economic management from a broader and comprehensive perspective. The book's basic tenet is that economic development can be conceived as a process of portfolio management, so that sustainability becomes an integral part of economic policy making. The rigorous analysis, presented in accessible format, tackles issues such as g. |
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accounts Africa analysis assets assumed Authors average calculated capital stock changes changes in wealth chapter coefficient components constant consumption cost countries damages decline dependence depletion derived developing countries economic effects elasticity of substitution emissions energy environmental equal estimates example expenditures factors figure forest future genuine saving rates gross national higher human capital important income increase indicators industries inputs institutional intangible capital intangible capital residual investment Italy land low-income countries major measure method minerals national saving natural capital natural resources negative nested Note output percent physical pollution population growth positive present value produced capital production function region resource rents returns rule rule of law schooling share shows significant social Source standard suggests sustainability Table total wealth United variables wealth per capita welfare
Popular passages
Page 18 - THE annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always either in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations.
Page 123 - Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p.
Page 122 - Pollutant and material (energy and resources) flow accounts, which provide information at the industry level about the use of energy and materials as inputs to production and final demand, and the generation of pollutants and solid waste. These accounts...
Page 92 - Voice and accountability Political stability and absence of violence Government effectiveness Regulatory quality Rule of law...
Page 92 - Rule of law measures the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society. These include perceptions of the incidence of both violent and nonviolent crime, the effectiveness and predictability of the judiciary, and the enforceability of contracts.
Page 36 - Consumption of fixed capital represents the replacement value of capital used up in the process of production. • Net national savings are equal to gross national savings less the value of consumption of fixed capital.
Page 147 - Reserves That part of the reserve base which could be economically extracted or produced at the time of determination. The term reserves need not signify that extraction facilities are in place and operative. Reserves include only recoverable materials; thus, terms such as "extractable reserves" and "recoverable reserves" are redundant and are not a part of this classitication system.
Page 36 - ... rents are estimated as the difference between the value of production at world prices and total costs of production, including depreciation of fixed assets and return on capital. Strictly speaking...
Page 18 - ... the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which its labour is generally applied ; and, secondly, by the proportion between the number of those who are employed in useful labour, and that of those who are not so employed. Whatever be the soil, climate, or extent of territory of any particular nation, the abundance or scantiness of its annual supply must, in that particular situation, depend upon those two circumstances.
Page 15 - ... the only valid approximation to a measure of welfare comes from computing wealth-like magnitudes not income magnitudes (of the Haig, Fisher or any other type).