Wealth is an abundance of items of economic value, or the state of controlling or possessing such items, and encompasses money, real estate and personal property. In many countries wealth is also measured by reference to access to essential services such as health care, or the possession of crops and livestock. An individual who is wealthy or rich is someone who has accumulated substantial wealth relative to others in their society or reference group. Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies, or actions. ... Money Money is any marketable good or token used by a society as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account. ... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... // Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ... Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions [1]. The healthcare industry is one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing industries, consuming over 10... Crop has several meanings: A crop is a plant domesticated for use in agriculture, considered as a group (eg. ... Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ...

The term implies a social contract on establishing and maintaining ownership in relation to such items which can be invoked with little or no effort and expense on the part of the owner (see means of protection). Social contract (or contractarianism) is a phrase used in philosophy, political science and sociology to denote a real or hypothetical agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens, or more generally a similar concord between a group and its members, or between individuals. ... Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive possession or control of some thing, which may be an object or some kind of property. ... A means of protection is some contract or guarantee of security for body or property. ...

The concept of wealth is relative and not only varies between societies, but will often vary between different sections or regions in the same society. For example, a personal net worth of US $1,000,000 in the United States Midwest would certainly place a person amongst that region's wealthiest citizens, yet the same net wealth would be considered quite modest on New York City's Upper East Side or in the Connecticut suburbs. However, such amounts would constitute extraordinary wealth in developing countries or impoverised areas like West Africa. Net worth (sometimes net assets) is the total assets minus total liabilities of an individual or company. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ... This photo, showing the architectural mix on the Upper East Side, was taken from 87th Street and Second Avenue. ... State nickname: The Constitution State Official languages English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) Senators Chris Dodd (D) Joe Lieberman (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 48th 14,371 km² 12. ... A developing country is a country with a low income average, a relatively undeveloped infrastructure and a lower Human Development Index rating when compared to the global norm. ...

Wealth and poverty

An entire lack of any kind of wealth may constitute poverty, although the opposite of poverty may be sufficiency (in terms of food, shelter, education and healthcare) rather than the abundance implied by wealth. A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows his find. ...

The eradication of extreme poverty around the world is one of the major Millennium Development Goals which all member states of the United Nations seek to achieve by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that all 191 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. ... A map of UN member states and their dependencies as recognized by the UN. Regions excluded : Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Vatican City, West Bank, Western Sahara. ... Main articles: League of Nations & History of the United Nations The term United Nations was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. ...

The anthropological view of wealth

Anthropology characterizes societies, in part, based on a society's concept of wealth, and the institutional structures and power used to protect this wealth. Several types are defined below. They can be viewed as an evolutionary progression. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, humane) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Sociologists usually define power as the ability to impose ones will on others, even if those others resist in some way. ...

A rudimentary notion of wealth

Great Apes seem to have notions of "turf" and control of food-gathering ranges, but it is questionable whether they understand this as a form of wealth. They acquire and use limited tools but these objects typically do not change, are not taken along, are simple to re-create, and therefore are unlikely to be seen as objects of wealth. Gorillas seem to have the capacity to recognize and protect pets and children, but this seems less an idea of wealth than of family. Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes... Type species Troglodytes gorilla Savage, 1847 Species Gorilla gorilla Gorilla beringei The gorilla, the largest of the primates, is a ground-dwelling herbivore that inhabits the forests of central Africa. ... Pets and humans often contribute toward the happiness of the other in a pet relationship. ... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ...

The interpersonal concept of wealth

Early hominids seem to have started with incipient ideas of wealth, similar to that of the great apes. But as tools, clothing, and other mobile infrastructural capital became important to survival (especially in hostile biomes), ideas such as the inheritance of wealth, political positions, leadership, and ability to control group movements (to perhaps reinforce such power) emerged. Neandertal societies had elaborate funerary rites and cave painting which implies at least a notion of shared assets that could be spent for social purposes, or preserved for social purposes. Wealth may have been collective. Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Lufengpithecus (extinct) Ankarapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Dryopithecus (extinct) Ouranopithecus (extinct) Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Orrorin (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The hominids are the members of the biological family Hominidae... Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes... (See also List of types of clothing and Clothing terminology) Humans nearly universally wear articles of clothing (also known as dress, garments, attire, or apparel) on the body. ... Infrastructural capital refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i. ... In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical environment. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 The Neanderthal or Neandertal was a species of genus Homo (Homo neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago (in the Middle Palaeolithic, early Stone Age). ... Underwater funeral in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea A funeral is a ceremony marking a persons death. ... Cave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. ...

Wealth as the accumulation of non-necessities

Humans back to and including the Cro-Magnons seem to have had clearly defined rulers and status hierarchies. Digs in Russia have revealed elaborate funeral clothing on a pair of children buried there over 35,000 years ago. This indicates a considerable accumulation of wealth by some individuals or families. The high artisan skill also suggest the capacity to direct specialized labor to tasks that are not of any utility to the group's survival. [[{{{diversity_link}}}|Diversity]] {{{diversity}}} Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Trinomial name {{{trinomial}}} Type Species {{{type_species}}} Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens [[Image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width}}}|]] Synonyms {{{synonyms}}} Homo (genus). ... The Cro-Magnons form the earliest known European examples of Homo sapiens, the subspecies to which modern humans belong. ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ... An artisan, also called a craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. ... Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output, particularly in the context of manufacturing. ...

Wealth as control of arable land

Irrigation and urbanization, especially in ancient Sumer and later Egypt, are thought to have triggered a shift that unified the ideas of wealth and control of land and agriculture. To feed a large stable population, it was possible and necessary to achieve universal cultivation and city-state protection. The notion of the state and the notion of war are said to have emerged at this time. Tribal cultures were formalized into what we would call feudal systems, and many rights and obligations were assumed by the monarchy and related aristocracy. Protection of infrastructural capital built up over generations became critical: city walls, irrigation systems, sewage systems, aqueducts, buildings, all impossible to replace within a single generation, and thus a matter of social survival to maintain. The social capital of entire societies was often defined in terms of its relation to infrastructural capital (e.g. castles or forts or an allied monastery, cathedral or temple), and natural capital, (i.e. the land that supplied locally grown food). Agricultural economics continues these traditions in the analyses of modern agricultural policy and related ideas of wealth, e.g. the ark of taste model of agricultural wealth. High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Egyptian Sangar, Bib. ... Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate (immovable property). ... Tillage (American English), or cultivation (UK) is the agricultural preparation of the soil to receive seeds. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government/anarchy, and possessing internal and external and even in your pantssovereignty. ... War is a state of widespread conflict between states, organisations, or relatively large groups of people, which is characterised by the use of lethal violence between combatants or upon civilians. ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, one, and archein, to rule) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ... -1... Infrastructural capital refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i. ... The defensive wall of Braşov, Romania. ... Irrigating cotton fields Irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ... Urban areas require some method for collection and disposal of sewage. ... Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC, it is one of Frances top tourist attractions at over 1. ... Building is either the act of creating an object assembled from more than one element, or the object itself; see also construction. ... Social capital is a socio-economic concept with a variety of inter-related definitions, based on the value of social networks. ... Infrastructural capital refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i. ... The main gatehouse of Harlech Castle, Wales. ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... A monastery is the habitation of monks, derived from the Greek word for a hermits cell. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Lutheran or Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a diocese. ... The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. ... Natural capital refers to the mineral, plant, and animal formations of the Earths biosphere when viewed as a means of production of oxygen, water filter, erosion preventer, or provider of other natural services. ... Soil is unconsolidated rock particles mixed with organic matter from plant decay. ... Agricultural economics applies the principles of economics to the production of crops and livestock. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... An ark of taste is a movement originally defined in eco_gastronomy, to protect gastronomic products threatened by industrial standardization, hyperhygienist legislation, the rules of the large-scale retail trade and the deterioration of the environment, according to the Germany, France, United States. ...

The capitalist notion of wealth

Industrialization emphasized the role of technology. Many jobs were automated. Machines replaced some workers while other workers became more specialized. Labour specialization became critical to economic success. However, physical capital, as it came to be known, consisting of both the natural capital (raw materials from nature) and the infrastructural capital (facilitating technology), became the focus of the analysis of wealth. Adam Smith saw wealth creation as the combination of materials, labour, land, and technology in such a way as to capture a profit. The theories of David Ricardo, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and later, Karl Marx, in the 18th century and 19th century built on these views of wealth that we now call classical economics and Marxian economics (see labor theory of value). Marx distinguishes in the Grundrisse between material wealth and human wealth, defining human wealth as "wealth in human relations"; land and labour were the source of all material wealth. Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output, particularly in the context of manufacturing. ... In general physical capital refers to any non-human asset made by humans and then used in production. ... Natural capital refers to the mineral, plant, and animal formations of the Earths biosphere when viewed as a means of production of oxygen, water filter, erosion preventer, or provider of other natural services. ... Infrastructural capital refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i. ... Adam Smith, FRSE (Baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... David Ricardo (April 18, 1772 – September 11, 1823), a British political economist, is often credited with systematizing economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists. ... John Locke (August 29, 1632–October 28, 1704) was a 17th-century English philosopher. ... In 1851 Mill married Harriet Taylor after 21 years of an at times intense friendship and love affair. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883 London) was an influential philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary organizer of the International Workingmens Association. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Classical economics is a school of economic thought whose major developers include William Petty, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and John Stuart Mill, and Johann Heinrich von Thünen. ... Marxian economics refers to a body of economic thought stemming from the work of Karl Marx. ... The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory in economics and political economy concerning a market-oriented or commodity-producing society: the theory equates the value of an exchangeable good or service (i. ...

Other concepts of wealth

Global wealth

Michel Foucault commented that the concept of Man as an aggregate did not exist before the 18th century. The shift from the analysis of an individual's wealth to the concept of an aggregation of all men is implied in the concepts of political economy and then economics. This transition took place as a result of a cultural bias inherent in the Enlightenment. Wealth was seen as an objective fact of living as a human being in a society. General sites (updated regularly): Foucault, info Michel Foucault Resources - excellent site by Clare OFarrell Foucault resources - at Theory. ... Image of a man on the Pioneer plaque sent to interstellar space A man is a male human adult, in contrast to an adult female, which is a woman. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ... U.S. Economic Calendar Economics at the Open Directory Project Economics textbooks on Wikibooks The Economists Economics A-Z Daily analysis of economics in the news (UK focus) Institutions and organizations Bureau of Labor Statistics - from the American Labor Department Center for Economic and Policy Research (USA) National Bureau... Cultural bias is interpreting and judging phenomena in terms particular to ones own culture. ... ...

Not a zero-sum game

Regardless of whether you define wealth as the sum total of all currency, the M1 money supply, or a broader measure which includes money, securities, and property, the supply of wealth, while limited, is not fixed. Thus, there is room for people to gain wealth without taking from others, and wealth is not a zero-sum game in the long term. Many things can affect the creation and destruction of wealth including size of the work force, production efficiency, available resource endowments, inventions, innovations, and availability of capital. The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... Zero-sum describes a situation in which a participants gain (or loss) is exactly balanced by the losses (or gains) of the other participant(s). ...

However, at any given point in time, there is a limited amount of wealth which exists. That is to say, it is fixed in the short term. People who study short term issues see wealth as a zero sum game and concentrate on the distribution of wealth, whereas people who study long term issues see wealth as a non-zero sum game and concentrate on wealth creation. Other people put equal emphasis on both the creation and the distribution of wealth. The concept wealth usually refers to money and property. ... The concept wealth usually refers to money and property. ...

In the very long term, the amount of raw materials is limited to what exists in the universe. The application of human ingenuity to raw materials can transform these to more valuable forms, but, even if human ingenuity is infinite, entropy may eventually put an absolute limit on the amount of wealth that can be created. For other senses of the term, see entropy (disambiguation). ...

One's attitude towards this issue affects the design of the social or economic system that one prefers. Social structure (also referred to as a social system) is a system in which people forming the society are organized by a patterns of prelationships. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The non-normative concept of wealth

Neoclassical economics tries to be non-normative for the most part, to be objective and free of value statements. If it is successful, then wealth would be defined in such a way that it would not be preconceived to be either positive or negative. This objective has not always been the case. In prior eras wealth was assumed to be a set of means of persuasion. Neoclassical economics refers to a general approach (a metatheory) to economics based on supply and demand which depends on individuals (or any economic agent) operating rationally, each seeking to maximize their individual utility or profit by making choices based on available information. ... A means of persuasion, in some theories of politics and economics, can substitute for a factor of production by providing some influence or information. ...

It was often seen as self-interested arguments by the powerful explaining why they should remain in power. In The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli had commented in that earlier era on the prudent use of wealth, and the need to tolerate some cruelty and vice in the use of it, in order to maintain appearances of strength and power. One of the covers of the book The fame of Niccolò Machiavelli rests mainly on his political treatise Il Principe (The Prince), written around 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after his death. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... For other uses, see Vice (disambiguation). ...

Jane Jacobs in the 1960s and 70s offered the observation that there were two different moral syndromes that were common attitudes to wealth and power, and that the one more associated with guardianship did in fact require a degree of ostentatious conspicuous consumption if only to impress others. Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs, OC , O.Ont (born on May 4, 1916) is an American-born Canadian writer and activist. ... Jane Butzner Jacobs (born May 4, 1916) is a writer, activist, and city aficionado. ... Child custody and guardianship are the legal terms used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and child, including e. ... Conspicuous consumption is a term introduced by the American economist Thorstein Veblen, in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). ...

This logic is almost entirely absent from neoclassical economics, which in its extreme form argues for the abolition of any political economy apart from the service markets wherein favours may be bought and sold at will, including political ones - the so-called political choice theory popular in the U.S.A.. While it is entirely likely that such assumptions apply in the subcultures that dominate modern discourse on technical economics and especially macroeconomics, the less technical notions of wealth and power that are implied in the older theories of economics and ideas of wealth, still continue as daily facts of life. Neoclassical economics refers to a general approach (a metatheory) to economics based on supply and demand which depends on individuals (or any economic agent) operating rationally, each seeking to maximize their individual utility or profit by making choices based on available information. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production and the relationships of buying and selling and their relationship to laws, customs and government. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... In semantics, discourses are linguistic units composed of several sentences — in other words, conversations, arguments or speeches. ... Macroeconomics is the economics sub-field of study that considers aggregate behavior, i. ...

Non financial wealth

The 21st century view is that many definitions of wealth can exist and continue to co-exist. Some people talk about measuring the more general concept of well-being. This is a difficult process but many believe it possible - human development theory being devoted to this. Although these alternative measures of wealth exist, they tend to be overshadowed and influenced by the dominant money supply and banking system. For more on the modern notions of wealth and their interaction see the article on political economy. Template:Squirrels The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ... The well-being or quality of life of a population is an important concern in economics and political science. ... Human development theory is an economic theory that merges older ideas from ecological economics, sustainable development, welfare economics, and feminist economics. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ...

Wealth as time

According to Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, wealth is nothing more than a measurement of time. It is how long you can continue to live your lifestyle without any adjustments when you cease working. For instance if you have a burn rate of $2,000 a month in bills and expenses and $4,000 in the bank and you have no other forms of income, then you have a wealth measurement of 2 months. If however you are simply able to increase other forms of income, those which are not the result of trading time for money, to a point where they exceed your monthly burn rate, then you will effectively reach infinite wealth.

Sustainable Wealth

According to the author of "Wealth Odyssey," Larry R. Frank Sr., MBA, CFP®, wealth is what sustains you when you are not working. It is net worth, not income, which is important when you retire or are unable to work (premature loss of income due to injury or illness is actually a risk management issue). The key question is how long would a certain wealth last? Ongoing withdrawal research has sustainable withdrawal rates anywhere between approximately 3 percent and 8 percent, depending on the research’s assumptions. Time, how long wealth might last, then becomes a function of how many times does the percentage withdrawal rate go into all the assets. Example: withdrawing 3 percent a year into 100 percent equals 33.3 years; 4 percent equals 25 years; 8 percent equals 12.5 years, etc. This ignores any growth, which presumably would be used to offset the effects of inflation. Growth greater than the withdrawal rate would extend the time assets may last. While negative growth would reduce the time assets may last. Clearly a lower withdrawal rate is more conservative. Knowing this helps you determine how much wealth you need also. Example: you know you will need $40,000 a year and use a 4 percent withdrawal rate, then you need to start with $1,000,000; using 5 percent you would need $800,000, etc. This simple “wealth rule” helps you estimate both the time and the amount.

Wealth Redefined Individualistically

Carrying the “wealth rule” concept from above one step further, wealth could then be defined as the resources necessary to sustain a person’s specific “Standard of Individual Living” (SOIL). It could be argued that if a person has resources more than necessary to sustain them in life they would be called rich. A person can determine their “Standard of Individual Living” by looking at what they spend today. The $40,000 example above in “Sustainable Wealth” could be defined as that person’s SOIL. This provides the frame of reference to determine the time and amount of resources needed to sustain that individual’s living standard. If they can sustain their standard of living, they could consider themselves wealthy. A more meaningful purpose of wealth is established with this specific individual perspective that goes a long way to better defining retirement in the 21st Century.

The creation of wealth

Johann Mathias Kager: Wealth 1622

Wealth is created through several means.

• Natural resources can be harvested and sold to those who want them.
• Material can be changed into something more valuable through proper application of knowledge, skill, labor and equipment.
• Better/smarter production methods also create additional wealth by allowing faster creation of wealth.
• Ideas create additional wealth by allowing it to be created faster or with new methods.

For example, consider our early ancestors. Building a house from trees created something of greater value for the builder. Hunting and firewood created food and fed a growing family. Agriculture converted labor into more food and resources. Continuing use of resources and effort has allowed many descendants to own much more than that first house.

This is still true today. It is more obvious to those working with physical material than to a service worker or knowledge worker. A cubicle worker may not be aware in how many ways their work is creating something which is of more value to their employer than the amount that employer paid to produce it. This profit creates wealth for the owners of the organization. The process also provides income for employees, and suppliers, and it makes the continued existence of the organization possible.

The limits to wealth creation

There is a debate in economic literature, usually referred to as the limits to growth debate in which the ecological impact of growth and wealth creation is considered. Many of the wealth creating activities mentioned above (cutting down trees, hunting, farming) have an impact on the environment around us. Sometimes the impact is positive (for example, hunting when herd populations are high) and sometimes the impact is negative (for example, hunting when herd populations are low).

Most researchers feel that sustained environmental impacts can have an effect on the whole ecosystem. They claim that the accumulated impacts on the ecosystem put a theoretical limit on the amount of wealth that can be created. They draw on archeology to cite examples of cultures that they claim have disappeared because they grew beyond the ability of their ecosystems to support them.

Others are more optimistic. They claim that although localized environmental impacts may occur, large scale ecological effects are either minor (in terms of magnitude) or non-existent. They sometimes claim that if these global scale ecological effects exist, human ingenuity will always find ways of adapting to them. To them, there is no limit to the amount of growth or wealth that this planet will sustain.

The limited surface of Earth also restricts potential growth and the effects upon this planet.

The distribution of wealth

Main article: Distribution of wealth

Different societies have different opinions about wealth distribution and about the obligations related to wealth, but from the era of the tribal society to the modern era, there have been means of moderating the acquisition and use of wealth. In economics, Distribution of wealth refers to the proportion of capital controlled by a given percentage of a population. ... An obligation can be legal or moral. ...

In ecologically rich areas such as those inhabited by the Haida in the Cascadia Pacific East Rim ecoregion, traditions like potlatch kept wealth relatively evenly distributed, requiring leaders to buy continued status and respect with giveaways of wealth to the poorer members of society. Such traditions make what are today often seen as government responsibilities into matters of personal honour. Haida Haida Copper Shield The Haida are an indigenous people of the west coast of North America. ... Cascadia is the geological, ecological and climatic region of North America bounded by the Cascade Range and the Pacific Ocean. ... An ecoregion is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ... A potlatch is a ceremony among certain Native American/First Nations peoples on the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia such as the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Kwakiutl (Kwakwakawakw). ...

In modern societies, the tradition of philanthropy exists. Large donations from funds created by wealthy individuals are highly visible, although small contributions by many people also offer a wide variety of support within a society. The continued existence of organizations which survive on donations indicate that modern Western society has at least some level of philanthropy. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Furthermore, in today's societies, much wealth distribution and redistribution is the result of government policies and programs. Government policies like the progressivity or regressivity of the tax system can redistribute wealth to the poor or the rich respectively. Government programs like “disaster relief” transfer wealth to people that have suffered loss due to a natural disaster. Social security transfers wealth from the young to the old. Fighting a war transfers wealth to certain sectors of society. Public education transfers wealth to families with children in public schools. Public road construction transfers wealth from people that do not use the roads to those people that do (and to those that build the roads). Certain people resent having to contribute to some or all of these programs, and disparagingly label them social engineering. In political science, social engineering refers to attempts by governments or private groups to change or engineer the views and behaviour of citizens, for example, by the use of advertising, through active support of culture, or through the legal system. ...

Like all human activities, wealth redistribution cannot achieve 100% efficiency. The act of redistribution itself has certain costs associated with it, due to the necessary maintenance of the infrastructure that is required to collect the wealth in question and then redistribute it. Different people on different sides of the political spectrum have different views on this issue. Some see it as unacceptable waste, while others see it as a natural fact of life, which is inevitable in all kinds of inter-human relations.

Proponents of the supply-side theory of "trickle-down" economics claim that it is a form of time-deferred philanthropy. The theory is that newly created wealth eventually "trickles down" to all strata of society. The argument goes that although wealth is created primarily by the wealthy, they will tend to reinvest their wealth, and this process will create even more wealth. As the economy grows, it is said that more and more people will share in the newly created wealth. A similar argument can be made in the case of Keynesian economics. According to this theory, government redistributions and expenditures have a multiplier effect that stimulates the economy and creates wealth. Supply-siders claim that wealth is created primarily by investment (supply), whereas Keynesians claim that wealth is driven by expenditure (demand). Today most economists agree that growth can be stimulated by either the supply or demand side, and some of them argue that these are really two sides of the same coin, in the sense that you seldom get one without the other. Nevertheless, the dispute between supply-side and Keynesian economics is of continuing interest. Supply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought which emphasizes the importance of tax cuts and business incentives in encouraging economic growth, in the belief that businesses and individuals will use their improved terms of trade to create new businesses and expand old businesses, which in turn will increase... Keynesian economics, or Keynesianism, is an economic theory based on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, as put forward in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936 in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. ... In economics, a multiplier effect – or, more completely, the spending/income multiplier effect – occurs when tom is awesome a change in spending causes a disproportionate change in aggregate demand. ...

Stresses within social distribution systems can be understood within a broad theory of political economy, where tradeoffs between means of protection, persuasion and production, and valuations of different styles of capital, are described. Simply put, if the rich do not at least once in a while give away, of their own free will, at least a small part of their wealth to the poor, then the poor are much more likely to rebel against the rich. Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ... A means of protection is some contract or guarantee of security for body or property. ... A means of persuasion, in some theories of politics and economics, can substitute for a factor of production by providing some influence or information. ... Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...

Wealth in the form of land

Many indigenous cultures reject the notion of land wealth. In western tradition, the concepts of owning land and accumulating wealth in the form of land, are justified according to John Locke. He claimed that because we admix our labour with the land, we thereby deserve the right to control the use of the land and benefit from the product of that land, subject to the Lockean proviso of "at least where there is enough, and as good left in common for others." Additionally, in our post agricultural society this argument has many critics (including those influenced by Georgist and geolibertarian ideas) that argue that since people did not create land, they have no right of property over it. Still, many older ideas have resurfaced in the modern notions of ecological stewardship, bioregionalism, natural capital, and ecological economics. John Locke (August 29, 1632–October 28, 1704) was a 17th-century English philosopher. ... The Lockean Proviso is simply the limitation: at least where there is enough, and as good left in common for others. ... Georgism, named for Henry George (1839-1897), is a philosophy and economic theory that follows from the belief that although everyone owns what they create; land, and everything else supplied by nature, belongs equally to all humanity. ... Georgism, named for Henry George (1839-1897), is a philosophy and economic theory that follows from the belief that although everyone owns what they create; land, and everything else supplied by nature, belongs equally to all humanity. ... Bioregional democracy (or the Bioregional State) is a set of environment concerns, e. ... Natural capital refers to the mineral, plant, and animal formations of the Earths biosphere when viewed as a means of production of oxygen, water filter, erosion preventer, or provider of other natural services. ... Ecological economics is a branch of economic theory that addresses the interdependence and co-evolution between human economies and their natural ecosystems. ...

Books

• Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
• Kiyosaki, Robert T.; Lechter, Sharon L. (April 1, 2000). Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (Warner Business Books ISBN 0446677477).
• Frank Sr., Larry R. MBA, CFP®. "Wealth Odyssey. The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey. Where is it You are Really Trying to go with Money? (iUniverse ISBN 0595337201).

See also

• Capital accumulation
• Distribution of wealth
• Poverty
• Surplus product
• Value added
• Wealth condensation

Most generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. ... In economics, Distribution of wealth refers to the proportion of capital controlled by a given percentage of a population. ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows his find. ... Surplus product (German: Mehrprodukt) is a concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Wealth condensation is a theoretical process by which, in certain conditions, newly-created wealth tends to become concentrated in the possession of already-wealthy individuals or entities. ...

External links

• "Wealth - a Torah approach"