i now know what guy fawkes day is!!!

Is a wealthy country one with full employment?  I bring up the question we discussed during Tuesday’s class, what is wealth?  According to my Macro class a nation’s wealth is based on its GDP.  Based on this definition the United States is the world’s richest nation.  Yet, the statistic I found says that the US has an unemployment rate of 4.8% (I’m not sure if this number takes into account of our current financial crisis).  So, if being rich equals being wealthy then unemployment is not a big enough factor in defining a nation as poor.

We also said that wealth could be based on having opportunity.  As the US is known as the “land of opportunity” and the classic American story is from going from rags to riches.  According to this definition, again, the US would be considered wealthy, despite the fact that is had unemployment.

Looking at the other side would be a country with a zero percent unemployment rate.  Take Andorra for example.  Despite its high employment it is considered relatively poor with a GDP of only $2.77 billion.

I see only one argument that would support the idea that a nation’s wealth is based on its unemployment rate: if all of a nation’s citizens have work it would ensure that every individual was independently wealthy.  However, just because an individual is employed does not mean that he or she is wealthy.  It is possible that a person is employed let’s take an example of Mr X, for some extenuating circumstances he has no excess monetary wealth (perhaps his expenditures are greater than his means), his low amounts of assets does not allow him to obtain his wants, he has constant worries and anxieties of how is future will turn out, and finds that due to some reason (maybe his lack of education, or limitations by the government) has little opportunities. A state populated with employed Mr. and Mrs. Xs would be considered wealthy because its citizens would not be independently wealthy.

I continue to think that wealth is a relative term.  Until we have a standard like the “Mainwaring Line,” there is no set definition.  You can define a state’s wealth according to its GDP, opportunity, or ability to obtains its wants but there is not way to define wealth overall.

HAPPY GUY FAWKES DAY!!!

http://www.wisegeek.com/which-countries-have-the-highest-gdp.htm

http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/lab_une_rat-labor-unemployment-rate