Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English weal, which is from an Indo-European word stem. An individual, community, region or country that possesses an abundance of such possessions or resources is known as wealthy.
The concept of wealth is of significance in all areas of economics, and clearly so for growth economics and development economics yet the meaning of wealth is context-dependent. At the most general level, economists may define wealth as "anything of value" which captures both the subjective nature of the idea and the idea that it is not a fixed or static concept. Various definitions and concepts of wealth have been asserted by various individuals and in different contexts. Defining wealth can be a normative process with various ethical implications, since often wealth maximization is seen as a goal or is thought to be a normative principle of its own.
The United Nations definition of inclusive wealth is a monetary measure which includes the sum of natural, human and physical assets. Natural capital includes land, forests, fossil fuels, and minerals. Human capital is the population's education and skills. Physical (or "manufactured") capital includes such things as machinery, buildings, and infrastructure.
Read more about Wealth: Definition, Economic Analysis, Sociological Treatments, Wealth in The Form of Land, Anthropological Views
Famous quotes containing the word wealth:
“What wealth is it to have such friends that we cannot think of them without elevation!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is no wealth but life.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“We are often reminded that if there were bestowed on us the wealth of Crsus, our aims must still be the same, and our means essentially the same.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)