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From:
[log in to unmask] (Roy Davidson)
Date:
Fri Mar 31 17:18:44 2006
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Pat Gunning has suggested that wealth cannot be precisely defined. 
Certainly a complete catalog of every item of wealth would be an 
impossibility. But the concept of wealth can be delimited with several 
criteria which can exclude those things which in popular belief are 
considered wealth. 
 
Are services (included in GDP), money, land, financial assets, part of 
the wealth of nations as well as individuals? Amasa Walker (father of 
Francis A Walker) stated that "in science, the term 'wealth' includes 
all objects of VALUE and nothing else." (Walker, Amasa. The Science of 
Wealth. A Manual of Political Economy. Embracing the Laws of Trade, 
Currency, and Finance. Boston, Little, Brown, and  Company. 1866, p.7). 
He continues with a definition of value. Depending upon one's 
definition, every item of wealh has value but everything having value is 
not necessarily wealth. 
 
I would be interested in any comments on the significance of precise 
definitions for both wealth and value. 
 
Roy Davidson 
 
 

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