Wealth#
Wealth Definition#
The website www.investopedia.com defines wealth as:
Wealth is the total value of all assets owned by a person, community, company, or country.
One powerful feature of the above definition, is that wealth is quantitative. Wealth and be calculated and the result is a number that is a measurement of wealth. Wealth can be numerically analyzed, and charts and graphs created.
But, the definition of wealth has shortfalls that must be kept in perspective. The value of assets is considered to be wealth. The value of assets is the price paid for the assets. But the price of assets can be affected by the lies, misrepresentations, and incompetence of people. The measurement of wealth can be skewed by human behavior.
Wealth Example#
In 2024 Forbes reported that a company called Truth Social, a social media platform created by Donald Trump, was worth ten billion dollars, based upon its stock price. Forbes is correct according to the definition of wealth provided above. But, what is the real value and worth of Truth Social to society? Look at reality, not stock price.
The Forbes article admitted that Truth Social had little revenue and was losing money. Forbes claimed the Truth Social performance was typical of social media platforms Other on-line sources indicate a very small number of Truth Social active users compared to large social media platforms.
It appears the Forbes authors are not very knowledgadable on the subject of open source software. The Forbes article failed to mention that Truth Social uses the open source program Mastodon. Numerous non-profit groups also use Mastodon for social media websites. Are these non-profit groups worth ten billion dollars each? No. Truth Social has made no advances in software, or technical accomplishments. The value and worth of Truth Social to society is not significant. Truth Social has no technical advantage over any present or future competitors.
Truth Social is a glaring example of how the formal definition of economic wealth can be misleading. On face value, the Forbes article can give the impression that a great ten billion dollar accomplishment has been achieved in the creation of Truth Social. The reality is much different.
Truth Social illustrates how human behavior can alter the measurement of wealth. Donald Trump created Truth Social to serve as his mouthpiece or mass medium to spread his views to the world. It is a mouthpiece that he completely controls. Trump, a highly skilled confidence man, persuaded many gullible investors to invest money into Truth Social, thus purchasing for Trump, his mouthpiece and providing the appearance of wealth.
True Wealth#
When archaeologist excavate ancient sites, they evaluate the wealth of the society of that society by analyzing the material possessions, the food eaten, and the general quality of life. Archaeologist focus on physical reality when assessing the wealth of an ancient society. When studying economics we should be like archaeologists and recognize that the true wealth of a society is the goods and services provided to its members.
True wealth is the goods and services used by the members of a society. It is the measure of success and failure of an economic system.
The economic problems of American are often viewed as a money or wealth problem. One common assertion is that the wealth of corporations and the wealthy is always held to be insufficient and must be maintained or increased. Another common assertion is that wealth must be directed to benefit poor people and society.
This document looks at the economic problems of America, as a true wealth, or goods and services problem. The current American economic system does not provide and is not capable of providing sufficient goods and services for the needs and wants of Americans. Too many of the extreme wealthy and corporations acquire large quantities of wealth for parasitic behavior. These parasitic activities need to be diverted to productive behavior which produces goods and services.