Answering the question posed by the title is not easy.
One can have some idea of what they are, but not a very precise one. And anyway, what kind of wealth are we talking about?
But, hey: the measure that is usually used is the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which totals the production of goods and services of a country in a certain period and is taken as an indicator to reflect the wealth of a region.
It is one of the best known and used of the Economy, and, among other things, it helps governments to know how much they will receive in taxes and, therefore, how much they can spend on services such as health and education.
So, although it has many detractors, let’s go with that one, at least for now, to satisfy our curiosity.
In countdown, with the October 2022 data from the International Monetary Fund and Visual Capitalist, here they are (see if any surprise you):
10. Italywith US$1.997 billion
9. Russiawith US$2.113 trillion
8. Canadawith US$2.2 trillion
7. Francewith US$2.778 billion
6. United Kingdomwith US$3.199 billion
5. Indiawith US$3.469 billion
Four. Germanywith US$4.031 trillion
3. Japanwith US$4.301 billion
And now, a huge jump of 14 trillion (and a few more)!
2. Chinawith US$18.321 billion
And another, almost 8!
one. USAwith US$25,035
But what do those numbers tell us?
Some, but by no means everything.
As some of the detractors of GDP point out, the key is in the third word of his name.
Not even its creator, the American economist Simon Kuznets, was proud of it.
His intention, in the 1930s, had been to find a way to measure the economy as a whole in order to have a tool to help get him out of the Great Depression.
The idea was to assess what was really productive, that is, find what truly brought well-being.
But World War II broke out and priorities changed: the urgent matter was not well-being but life, and weapons were required to defend it.
For the highly influential British economist John Maynard Keynes it was essential to know what the economy could produce and what was the bare minimum that people needed to consume, in order to know how much was left over to finance the war.
Another type of calculation was needed, so the focus of that measure changed.
And so it stayed.
After the war, the United States needed to know how the recipients of its reconstruction aid were doing, so they all started using GDP.
It then spread further thanks to the United Nations and became the global standard.
Per head
The measure of economic well-being that Kuznets wanted to create ended up being a measure of activity in the economy.
The difference is that there are many things that are not good for society but are good for the economyso producing, for example, something that saves children’s lives counts as much as producing bullets for guns that kill them.
Nor does it measure quality, only quantity.
When you pay for a ticket to get on a train, for example, that counts in the calculation of GDP, what does not count is if the train you are taking is dilapidated, crowded with people because the service is poor and dirty, or if it is a train bullet, which arrived on time and is well maintained.
On the other hand, it says nothing about the distribution of wealth: a country can have a high GDP but also a lot of money. inequality.
Notice how much the list changes if the measure is the GDP per capitawhich measures the relationship between national income (through GDP in a specific period) and the inhabitants of the place.
Although it does not reflect reality either, it does give -according to specialists- a closer idea of socioeconomic well-being.
According to the current IMF map (2023), the 10 richest in that ranking are…
one. Luxembourg
2. Singapore
3. Ireland
Four. Qatar
5. macau
6. Swiss
7. Norway
8. United Arab Emirates
9. brunei
10. USA
None of the countries on the first list appear on it, apart from the US, which, despite being the world’s largest economy, accounting for roughly 20% of global GDP, is in 10th place.
Regarding #1…
Luxembourg, one of the smallest countries on the planet, both in terms of area and population, is the richest country on the planet according to this particular ranking.
It is the largest banking center in the world: More than 200 banks and 1,000 investment funds operate in its capital.
With one of the most educated and highly-skilled workforces in the world, meeting the demands of multinational corporations, Luxembourg is enriched by a mix of industries and an import-export economy based on financial services.
It also has small and medium-sized businesses, as well as a small but prosperous agricultural sector.
Their high performance is partly due to the fact that citizens of neighboring countries, such as France, Germany and Belgium, work in the dukedom but do not reside in it, so they contribute to GDP growth but are not included in the per capita calculation.
Luxembourg attracts foreign businessmen with preferential taxes; according to the newspaper Le Monde and Süddeutsche Zeitung, 90% of companies registered in the country are owned by foreigners.
And for the employees high income levels.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research in Luxembourg, the minimum wage in the country is $2,488 per month, so any unskilled worker can count on such an amount.
The $14.40 per hour are almost double the $7.25 of the federal minimum wage in the US, the country that leads the previous list, and is only surpassed by the minimum wage of Australia ($14.54 per hour), the highest of 2022.
The median salary is $5,380 a month, but specialists working in banks, insurance companies, the energy industry and information technology earn considerably more than that.
And Latin America?
Well You have to go down a bit in these lists to find a country in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In GDP per capita, the first to appear are the South American Guyana, and the Caribbean island Aruba, followed -4 places later- by Puerto Rico; Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile and Uruguay are, separated from each other, later… but there we are already in position 66.
In the lists in which Latin American countries do appear in the top 10 are those of “The richest in natural resources”, with Brazil and Venezuela in a study in positions 7 and 10 respectively (with Russia and then the US. to the head).
And, of course, often in those of the most beautiful countries. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
