Top 10 countries by National Wealth

[SvenSvensonov]

You literally write the best posts, on this entire forum.

I really learned a lot from just reading it.

@Nihonjin1051 what do you think of the national wealth rankings? It's interesting that the USA, Japan and China dominate the rankings, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

This underscores the importance of peace and stability in the Pacific. Since these countries are the engines of the global economy.

China of course will take several more decades to accumulate enough wealth to be considered "developed" (albeit a low-tier developed economy). But I guess it's not too long to wait, and personally I feel many Mainland cities (like Suzhou) actually have a superior quality of life compared to my own city of HK. So my dreams of moving to the Mainland are not so impractical.

Without question Japan, China and the US will remain very, very important players on the world stage, especially as two of the three continue their growth while each makes amazing progress in high value sectors such as tech and manufacturing. But I will say this: while the wealth rankings are impressive, the distribution is equally important and is becoming a great catalyst of strife in the world. I make great money working in the private medical sector as a psychologist. At 28 I own a house and rent out another property at Colonial Beach, but I can drive ten minutes from my house and see people that make a fraction of what I make. Now, don't get me wrong I believe all people should be compensated based on their productivity, skills and am far from one of those that believes in the concept of a living wage or nationally standardized wage system that sees people compensated for work the doesn't match their earnings. But, I see protests very often in D.C. about the wealth distribution in this country and the backlash against those more well-off. This is very disruptive, just look at the consequences of the Occupy Wall Street protests or the port shutdowns in Oakland. Each nation has amassed considerable wealth, and they've earned it based on their smart economics (QE worked in the US!!!), intelligent and hardworking populations and their size, but problems follow wealth and these rankings, while very impressive, don't tell how the wealth is distributed. In the US too few people hold too much, and in China and Japan (and most of the world for that matter) the situation follows this mold. In any event, I completely agree with your sentiment. The Pacific region will be the most important in the world for some time and the US, China and Japan will continue to push it forward into the future.

Also, loving the Chinese stock markets right now. Looking to get into that game to diversify my assets.

 

[TheTruth]

It's interesting to note that China's national wealth more than doubled during the period 2005-2010, which was only 5 years.

I love the rate at which we are adding national wealth, though it needs to be sustained via economic reforms (which we are carrying out right now).

Another good thing would be to stop importing overpriced crap with enormous margins from hostile or arrogant nations in the West. That alone would add I don't know, half a trillion to national wealth a year

 

[Aepsilons]

@Nihonjin1051 what do you think of the national wealth rankings? It's interesting that the USA, Japan and China dominate the rankings, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

This underscores the importance of peace and stability in the Pacific. Since these countries are the engines of the global economy.

China of course will take several more decades to accumulate enough wealth to be considered "developed" (albeit a low-tier developed economy). But I guess it's not too long to wait, and personally I feel many Mainland cities (like Suzhou) actually have a superior quality of life compared to my own city of HK. So my dreams of moving to the Mainland are not so impractical.

Though the Japanese are much wealthier than a great percentage of Asia, the competition is still just as tough. Through the hard work of the Japanese government, the Japanese economy is one of the most impressive in the world. Their intelligence in many fields has pioneered conceptualization, research, production and manufacture of a great deal of materials and items that are sold in many parts of the world. In some way, it is through this that they can monopolize.

Despite this, the competition is high in much of developing Asia and I would point out that National Wealth serves as an abstract mechanism for nations to compare developmental positions, it should only be considered for comparative analysis. Now, in regards to China-- China is still developing and when it reaches development parity as say Japan, no doubt its National Wealth will be quite considerable.

Lastly, I'd like to thanks Sir @LeveragedBuyout for his economic analysis. I pride PDF in having a resident Finance Guru here, which is quite rare to find in many other discussion forums.

 

[TheTruth]

Without question Japan, China and the US will remain very, very important players on the world stage, especially as two of the three continue their growth while each makes amazing progress. But I will say this: while the wealth rankings are impressive, the distribution is equally important and is becoming a great catalyst of strife in the world. I make great money working in the private medical sector as a psychologist. At 28 I own a house and rent out another property at Colonial Beach, but I can drive ten minutes from my house and see people that make a fraction of what I make. Now, don't get me wrong I believe all people should be compensated based on their productivity, skills and am far from one of those that believes in the concept of a living wage or nationally standardized wage system. But, I see protests very often in D.C. about the wealth distribution in this country and the backlash against those more well-off. This is very disruptive, just look at the consequences of the Occupy Wall Street protests or the port shutdowns in Oakland. Each nation has amassed considerable wealth, and they've earned it based on their smart economics (QE worked in the US!!!), intelligent and hardworking populations and their size, but problems follow wealth and these rankings, while very impressive, don't tell how the wealth is distributed. In any even, I completely agree with your sentiment. The Asia region will be the most important in the world for some time and the US, China and Japan will continue to push it forward into the future.

Also, loving the Chinese stock markets right now. Looking to get into that game to diversify my assets.

Another thing that's quite impressive about Japan is that they have the lowest imbalance in wealth in the world. The vast majority of Japanese live comfortably (though poverty still does exist)

The income Gini is not very reliable as it doesn't count taxes, transfers, living costs ... etc. Wealth Gini is what happens once everything settles.

List of countries by distribution of wealth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

You literally write the best posts, on this entire forum.

I really learned a lot from just reading it.

@Nihonjin1051 what do you think of the national wealth rankings? It's interesting that the USA, Japan and China dominate the rankings, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

This underscores the importance of peace and stability in the Pacific. Since these countries are the engines of the global economy.

China of course will take several more decades to accumulate enough wealth to be considered "developed" (albeit a low-tier developed economy). But I guess it's not too long to wait, and personally I feel many Mainland cities (like Suzhou) actually have a superior quality of life compared to my own city of HK. So my dreams of moving to the Mainland are not so impractical.

You're too kind--I try to keep things simple, but they never really are that simple. But that's why economics isn't a real science, and why it helps to drink heavily on the weekends.

 

[TheTruth]

@LeveragedBuyout

Do you know offhand how central bank assets and NIIP are calculated in this particular national net worth ranking?

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

Though the Japanese are much wealthier than a great percentage of Asia, the competition is still just as tough. Through the hard work of the Japanese government, the Japanese economy is one of the most impressive in the world. Their intelligence in many fields has pioneered conceptualization, research, production and manufacture of a great deal of materials and items that are sold in many parts of the world. In some way, it is through this that they can monopolize.

Despite this, the competition is high in much of developing Asia and I would point out that National Wealth serves as an abstract mechanism for nations to compare developmental positions, it should only be considered for comparative analysis. Now, in regards to China-- China is still developing and when it reaches development parity as say Japan, no doubt its National Wealth will be quite considerable.

Lastly, I'd like to thanks Sir @LeveragedBuyout for his economic analysis. I pride PDF in having a resident Finance Guru here, which is quite rare to find in many other discussion forums.

Agreed, but we should remember that China is not entering the top ranks--it is returning to the top ranks, having dominated the globe economically for most of its existence. It's a great time to be alive, to see the massive changes that will occur in our world as a result. And thank you for your kind words as well. Are you already back in Japan?

 

[Aepsilons]

You're too kind--I try to keep things simple, but they never really are that simple. But that's why economics isn't a real science, and why it helps to drink heavily on the weekends.

Your humility is also a model for all of us. I really am starting to think you're more than just a Hedge Fund Analyst. I'm thinking more of an Economics or Finance Professor. But that's just my conjecture..

Are you already back in Japan?

My flight leaves tomorrow night at Philly International. Excited!

 

[SvenSvensonov]

You're too kind--I try to keep things simple, but they never really are that simple. But that's why economics isn't a real science, and why it helps to drink heavily on the weekends.

I feel for you, whenever I read your posts I have a strong urge to get myself a few drinks and try to digest what I just read. Nah, but your contributions are among the most welcomed, respected and valuable we have on PDF. Soft-sciences and I have a strong, but stressful relationship. I love economics (it's in my top five favorite subjects following military electronics and psych), it's a lot of guess work (look at the US QE, no one knew if it would work, and it has!), and that has too be an issue for even the most hardy of persons. But @Nihonjin1051 and I, being psychologists, can absolutely relate the stress of soft-sciences that are often based on perception and not numbers (though both involved a lot of stats).
I don't know about you, but I think a drink is in order

Also @Nihonjin1051 have fun on your trip!!! I'm very jealous! I'm skipping my trip home to spend time at my place with my soon-to-be inlaws - I may need a few more drinks to make it through

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

@LeveragedBuyout

Do you know offhand how central bank assets and NIIP are calculated in this particular national net worth ranking?

I'm sorry, I don't. I tried skimming the original CSFB report that these numbers were based on, but it's clear that the methodology is rather mixed and inconsistent based on the quality of data gathered per country, and since the majority of the data is at the household level and built up, it becomes difficult to compare to metrics like NIIP on the national level.

https://publications.credit-suisse....fm?fileid=25EC6CF2-0407-67D9-AAEAAE8BDFEDE378

 

[ito]

net wealth is not what OP says as total assets minus total liabilities of a nation, but total monetary assets such as cash or receivables minus monetary liabilities such payables that don't fluctuate with inflation and other short term macro variables.

net wealth as calculated at present is not the correct measure of wealth of a country, more so for a developing country such as India, because in the absence of a perfect financial system, it is hard to calculate cash and liabilities of households that are outside the formal financial system. Then there is the question of exchange rate effecting net wealth in a big way.

For all their fault, PPP followed by GDP Nominal are better measures as they capture economic activity of a country better. No wonder World Bank, UNDP, and IMF have adopted PPP and GDP Nominal as measure of national wealth.

 

[TheTruth]

net wealth is not what OP says as total assets minus total liabilities of a nation, but total monetary assets such as cash or receivables minus monetary liabilities such payables that don't fluctuate with inflation and other short term macro variables.

net wealth as calculated at present is not the correct measure of wealth of a country, more so for a developing country such as India, because in the absence of a perfect financial system, it is hard to calculate cash and liabilities of households that are outside the formal financial system. Then there is the question of exchange rate effecting net wealth in a big way.

For all their fault, PPP followed by GDP Nominal are better measures as they capture economic activity of a country better. No wonder World Bank, UNDP, and IMF have adopted PPP and GDP Nominal as measure of national wealth.

Good points but net wealth includes what cash it can count.

 

[Aepsilons]

This is very disruptive, just look at the consequences of the Occupy Wall Street protests or the port shutdowns in Oakland. Each nation has amassed considerable wealth, and they've earned it based on their smart economics (QE worked in the US!!!), intelligent and hardworking populations and their size, but problems follow wealth and these rankings, while very impressive, don't tell how the wealth is distributed. In the US too few people hold too much, and in China and Japan (and most of the world for that matter) the situation follows this mold. In any event, I completely agree with your sentiment.

Sven,

I see the potential for greater integration between United States - Japan - China in the future. Our three countries have overlapping mutual strategic interests. China , historically, has not been shy to court and cooperate with the West, open to the West and adopt economic policies akin to the West and Japan. This was seen immediately after the Sino-Soviet Split and also yet again in the 1970s under Mao and Deng, unlike the Russians. Remember that this was during the height of the Cold War. This is why I believe that China will remain a major player in cooperation with the United States and Japan.

I feel for you, whenever I read your posts I have a strong urge to get myself a few drinks and try to digest what I just read. Nah, but your contributions are among the most welcomed, respected and valuable we have on PDF. Soft-sciences and I have a strong, but stressful relationship. I love economics (it's in my top five favorite subjects following military electronics and psych), it's a lot of guess work (look at the US QE, no one knew if it would work, and it has!), and that has too be an issue for even the most hardy of persons. But @Nihonjin1051 and I, being psychologists, can absolutely relate the stress of soft-sciences that are often based on perception and not numbers (though both involved a lot of stats). I don't know about you, but I think a drink is in order

Trust me, he is one of the best posters here. Ive been a "stalker" of Sir @LeveragedBuyout 's posts since this summer, lol. Prior to reading his threads, i always end up making a tall glass of ice tea and enjoy as I read.

he he he!

PS. On a side note, you're 28? I always thought you were older than that from the quality of your posts. So you're my age group then..

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

net wealth is not what OP says as total assets minus total liabilities of a nation, but total monetary assets such as cash or receivables minus monetary liabilities such payables that don't fluctuate with inflation and other short term macro variables.

net wealth as calculated at present is not the correct measure of wealth of a country, more so for a developing country such as India, because in the absence of a perfect financial system, it is hard to calculate cash and liabilities of households that are outside the formal financial system. Then there is the question of exchange rate effecting net wealth in a big way.

For all their fault, PPP followed by GDP Nominal are better measures as they capture economic activity of a country better. No wonder World Bank, UNDP, and IMF have adopted PPP and GDP Nominal as measure of national wealth.

You are right sir, that was my mistake and I have edited it now.

Trust me, he is one of the best posters here. Ive been a "stalker" of Sir @LeveragedBuyout 's posts since this summer, lol. Prior to reading his threads, i always end up making a tall glass of ice tea and enjoy as I read.

Haha I guess I am one of his "stalkers" then as well, I always try to read his posts.

Sort of like the Objectivist movement following around Ayn Rand.

(I've been trying to read Atlas Shrugged, but haven't managed to finish it yet. )

 

[Aepsilons]

Haha I guess I am one of his "stalkers" then as well, I always try to read his posts.

Sort of like the Objectivist movement following around Ayn Rand.

(I've been trying to read Atlas Shrugged, but haven't managed to finish it yet. )