Roy Davidson's definition of wealth, and his view of its significance, has a 
very close parallel in Book II of Henry George's _The Science of Political 
Economy_ (1897) on "The Nature of Wealth", in 21 chapters. Well worth 
reading, especially for those sympathetic to the need to return to the sharp 
classical distinction between land and capital in economics, and the _social 
definition_ of wealth. 
 
With reference to Pat Gunning's post in which he alludes to the political 
economy of rent-seeking and "the public interest", he will find much of 
relevance in these chapters. But instead of focusing on marginal utility of 
gainers and losers, Henry George focuses on the distinction between "value 
from production" (wealth creation) vs "value from obligation" (transfer 
payments based on power, privilege, and licences). 
 
Roger Sandilands