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