The World Bank published a report in 2006 entitled ‘Where is the Wealth of Nations?’.
The findings of the World Bank report suggest that “human capital and the value of institutions (as measured by rule of law) constitute the largest share of wealth in virtually all countries.”
The report suggests that the wealth of a country isn’t in its natural resources, or even its productive capital such as machinery, buildings and infrastructure. It’s the way a way a society organises itself, and the knowledge and skills of the members of that society, that are the real drivers of wealth.
Invisible factors, like the level of trust between members of a society, are what really make us wealthy.
That’s food for thought.