Wealth - what is it? Meaning of the word. What does it mean to be a rich person

DICTIONARY OF ECONOMIC TERMS

The material provides various interpretations of some widely used economic terms, as well as, in some cases, necessary explanations. To go to a specific term, you need to click on the term in the list:

BARTER

WEALTH

COSTS

INFLATION

CAPITAL

COMPETITION

CREDIT

MANAGER

MONOPOLY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TRADE UNION

OWN

DEMAND

PRODUCT

FIRM

ECONOMY

« Dictionary Ozhegova"

barter transaction, exchange in kind

"Dictionary of economic terms"

natural exchange of goods, in which one thing is exchanged for another without monetary payment, a trade transaction carried out according to the “goods for goods” scheme. The proportion of such exchange is established by the exchanging parties and is fixed in the contract. Transactions based on the direct exchange of goods are called barter.

“Dictionary of crisis management terms”

direct non-monetary exchange of goods and services. It is determined by a single agreement (contract), in which goods or services are assessed in order to create conditions for the equivalence of exchange, to determine insurance amounts, assess claims, assess sanctions, customs accounting, etc. The main reason for barter is “currency problems” (lack of foreign currency, instability of the domestic currency, etc.)

"Financial Dictionary"

Direct non-monetary exchange of goods or services

"Big Encyclopedic Dictionary"

Barter transaction (from English barter - exchange of goods) - exchange agreement

a certain quantity of goods (goods) for a quantity equivalent in value

other goods, that is, without the use of funds (national or

currency)

"Modern Encyclopedia"

Barter transaction (from Middle English barter - barter), an exchange transaction in which goods (services) are supplied in exchange for an equivalent amount of other goods (services) in value.

"Financial Dictionary"

Barter transaction is an export-import operation to exchange a certain quantity of one or more goods for an equivalent quantity of another product or goods in value (price). A barter transaction allows for the direct exchange of goods in foreign trade without the use of foreign exchange or cash. At the same time, foreign trade partners, usually with the knowledge of the relevant government bodies, often carry out simultaneously export and import operations, excluding monetary settlements between the parties. Barter transactions can be either bilateral or multilateral in nature. In terms of their content, Barter transactions are contradictory, since, on the one hand, they expand foreign trade exchange, and on the other hand, they limit it to the framework of a commodity exchange agreement. The object of barter exchange, as a rule, is a certain type of goods.

Wealth

Wealth- Abundance of material values, money, national wealth.

(S.I. Ozhegov “Dictionary of the Russian Language”)

Wealth – multitude, abundance, plenty, excess, superfluity. Prosperity, wealth, condition, sufficiency, prosperity, items that constitute a person’s property, and most likely, the state of a prosperous person.

Wealth– on the scale of society, it is a set of useful benefits accumulated by society over the entire period of its production activity. This set includes:

a) production fixed assets (active part - machinery and equipment, passive part - buildings and structures);

b) non-productive fixed assets (residential buildings, as well as buildings and equipment of educational, healthcare, cultural institutions, etc.);

c) material working capital(raw materials, materials, semi-finished products, fuel, energy);

d) personal property of the population (durable consumer goods).

Wealth- an abundance of material assets (money, jewelry, real estate, etc.), a large fortune.

“Big Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language” St. Petersburg “Norint” 2000.

Wealth- natural, as well as material and spiritual values created and accumulated by people and countries; everything that is of value to people, society, and the state.

Wealth– everything that has a market value and can be sold for money or exchanged for other goods.

Wealth- abundance of material values, money.

Brief economic encyclopedia G.S. Vechkanov, G.R. Vechkanova, V.T. Pulyaev. Moscow 2000

Wealth– a set of valuable qualities.

Wealth is real– real assets, durable, which directly provide a return over a certain period of time.

Economic Encyclopedia A.I. Abalkin. Moscow 1999.

National wealth- the totality of material wealth created by the labor of previous and current generations and involved in the process of reproduction of natural resources available to society; a country.

National wealth– the most important indicator characterizing the power and potential capabilities of the country.

Economic Encyclopedia A.I. Abalkin. Moscow 1999.

National wealth– the basis of the material and cultural development of society.

Large economic dictionary. Edited by A.N. Azrimyaka. Moscow 2000.

Wealth- any property that consists of goods and can be exchanged for money at the request of the owner.

Wealth– all property that has monetary or exchange value; all material objects that have economic utility (for example, a stock of useful goods that are valuable to life in a given period of time.

Wealth- a set of objects that serve to satisfy human needs and are owned by a person, group or people; in particular, property that is significant in comparison with the needs of the owner and the property of other persons.

And V. Lipsits Economics, History and modern organization of economic activity. Moscow 1999.

Wealth– on the scale of society, it is a set of useful benefits accumulated by society over the entire period of its production activity.

E.F. Borisov, A.A. Perova, F.F. Sterlikov. Economy. Directory. Moscow 1997.

National wealth– the totality of a country’s resources that determine the conditions for the production of goods, provision of services and provision of people’s lives.

Editor-in-Chief A.D. Nekipelov. Popular economic encyclopedia. Moscow 2000.

National wealth- the totality of natural resources that create the means of production of goods and values that the country has.

Dictionary of Economics and Law. L. Lozonovsky, B. Raizberg. "Omega" Moscow 2001.

Petty on wealth: Education occurs in the sphere of material production, thanks precisely to labor. Labor is the father and active principle of wealth, and land is its mother.

Wealth among the classics: From the point of view of basis and source, wealth is the accumulation of national capital. From the point of view of implementation, this is an increase in the amount of goods per capita.

Wealth among mercantilists: Wealth is created by labor, but is expressed in gold and silver. They sought the source of the wealth of nations in the sphere of circulation (trade).

DI. Platonov, History of economic doctrines, Moscow 1998.

Wealth among the physiocrats: The physiocrats represented the land as the only source of wealth for the people.

E. M. Mayburd. Introduction to the history of economic thought. Moscow 2000.

Wealth according to Adam Smith: The wealth of a country is its wealth. Increase in the number of consumer goods per capita.

Wealth of the people lies in its labor, land and capital, especially if this is continuously improved.

E. M. Mayburd. Introduction to the history of economic thought. Moscow 2000.

WEALTH
(wealth), abundance of property, bellies, money (V. Dahl). In Russia there is a different attitude towards money and wealth than in the West. For Westerners, freedom is personified by money (in particular, famous aphorism B. Franklin), for a Russian freedom is independence from money. Western world most often reduces the concept of freedom to the degree of the ability to buy, acquire more and more new goods and services, the Russian sees in this “freedom” a form of bondage that entangles his soul and impoverishes his life.
“Trouble will give birth to money,” the working Russian persistently repeats. “Money is like stone - it weighs heavily on the soul”, “Money is dust”, “Money cannot buy back the soul”, or another version of this proverb - “Money is dust, well, it’s in tatters.”
From here it is clear what gave the right to F.M. Dostoevsky wrote that the Russian people turned out to be, perhaps, the only great European people who resisted the onslaught of the golden calf, the power of the money bag.
Money is not a fetish for a working person. “It is better to give than to take”, “God forbid to give, God forbid to ask.” The Russian people treated wealth and the rich, hoarding with hostility and great suspicion. As a working man, he understood that “from the labors of the righteous you will not make stone chambers,” “From your labors you will be full, but you will not be rich.” Although it would be wrong to think that he was driven by a feeling of envy. No. Simply acquiring wealth beyond one's needs, accumulating all kinds of goods beyond measure did not fit into his scale life values
. “Do not boast about silver, boast about good things.”
Hence the conclusions: “It is better to live poor than to get rich through sin”, “Unjust gain is of no use”, “Unjust gain is fire”, “Unjust gain is a waste, unrighteous acquisition is dust”, “Stinginess did not come from poverty, but from wealth” .
Working people treat the rich with great distrust. “Wealth is akin to hubris,” he says. “A rich man doesn’t remember anyone, he only remembers himself.” “A rich man shovels money.” “He has money - the chickens don’t peck.” “A cancer has a claw, but a rich man has a purse.” “The man is as rich as a horned bull.” “The rich man does not buy his conscience, but destroys his own.”
At the same time, the peasants even sympathize with the rich man in some way, seeing in his position a moral inconvenience and even inferiority. “The rich man doesn’t bother, but he’s bored.” “The rich man cannot sleep, the rich man is afraid of the thief.” And for moral education baby's wealth popular consciousness causes direct harm. “The wealth of parents is a spoiler for children.” “The father is rich, but the son is unsuccessful.”
Sometimes hostility towards the rich even extends to curses: “We praise God, we magnify Christ, we curse the rich rich man!” - says one of the popular proverbs.
O. Platonov

Source: Encyclopedia "Russian Civilization"

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

See what “WEALTH” is in other dictionaries:

Wed. multitude, abundance, abundance, excess, superfluity. The wealth of the harvest. Wealth of thoughts. | An abundance of property, bellies, money, wildfire, fire. rich, archan. wealth, lower wealth, ryaz. rich woman, zap. wealth avg. (see also bagatier),… … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

This is the savings of many in the hands of one. Julian Tuwim If they say to you: “My wealth was acquired through hard work,” ask: “Whose?” Don Marchie Many people dream of such money that they no longer need money. Wladyslaw Grzeszczyk Very rich people are not alike... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

See property, luxury... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian dictionaries, 1999. wealth of property... Synonym dictionary

wealth- wealth The value of assets owned by a person or group of persons. Economics began with the study of the nature of wealth (for example, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations) and how it changes over a given period.... ... Technical Translator's Guide

- (wealth) The cost (value) of assets owned by an individual or group of individuals. Economics began with the study of the nature of wealth (for example, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations) and how it changes over a given period.... ... Dictionary of business terms

Wealth- – everything that has a market value and can be sold for money or exchanged for other goods. (This, of course, is far from the only definition of such general concept, but accepted quite widely in the economic literature). B. maybe... ... Economic and mathematical dictionary

WEALTH, wealth, cf. 1. Large property, preferably monetary. || preim. pl. A collection of material assets. The natural wealth of the USSR is incalculable. 2. transfer Many, abundance. Shakespeare's language is rich in words. 3. Splendor,... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (wealth) The value of assets owned by a person or group of persons. Economics began with the study of the nature of wealth (for example, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations) and how it changes over a given period. Keynesian theory... ... Financial Dictionary

WEALTH, ah, cf. 1. see rich. 2. Abundance of material values, money. People's wealth. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

wealth- lush (Barantsevich); wretched (Balmont) Epithets of literary Russian speech. M: Supplier of His Majesty's court, the Quick Printing Association A. A. Levenson. A. L. Zelenetsky. 1913... Dictionary of epithets

Today I want to talk about what does it mean to be a rich person. What is wealth? What does this concept mean? How and with what to measure it? What are the key criteria for wealth? How can you determine which person is rich and which is not?

What does it mean to be rich?

If you ask this question to different people, then I am sure that each of them will name completely different criteria for wealth.

Someone will say that to be a rich person means to have a million dollars, and someone will name a hundred million (the difference is a hundred times!). For some, a person who has a good home and a big beautiful car will be considered rich; for some, the criterion of wealth will be, for example, a yacht, and for others, the presence of a surname on the Forbes lists. Surely there will be people who will say that happiness does not lie in money, and that a rich person is one who is spiritually rich. Each of them will be right in their own way.

Each person will answer the question “What does it mean to be rich?” in his own way. Everyone has their own criteria for wealth, and this is quite normal and understandable.

In addition, the presentation specific person wealth may change over the course of a lifetime. IN at a young age Many people dream of saving a certain amount of money or having a certain amount of income per month, and it seems that achieving this is the ultimate dream. But then the dream comes true, and it turns out that it is not as much as it seemed. As incomes grow, so do needs, so those earnings and savings that one could previously only dream of are no longer enough. The criteria for wealth are changing.

From this we can conclude that since wealth is a very vague and changing concept, it is almost impossible to become rich, because the “bar” of wealth for a particular person will constantly grow.

What is wealth anyway? How to measure it?

If we're talking about about material wealth, then I propose to answer this question as follows:

Wealth is the difference between what a person earned and what he spent. In other words, wealth is everything monetary and material (remember what a personal budget consists of) with the exception of spending on current needs. This is all that a person has available at the moment.

Wealth formula.

Thus, the formula for wealth can be derived. It will look like this:

Or like this:

Or, to put it simply and accessible language, then the wealth formula will be as follows:

Wealth = Earned – Spent

All these wealth formulas are identical to each other and mean the same thing, just expressed in different words.

I hope you understand what wealth is and what it means to be rich. First of all, it depends on your personal perception and there cannot be any definite answer here in any case.

Since wealth is an ambiguous and fickle value, I would not recommend striving for it at all. It is better, in my opinion, to strive not for wealth, but for, since this is something more clear and definable.

You don’t need a lot of money, because the concept of “a lot” will constantly grow. Rather, there should be enough of them. Enough to feel independent from money.

In my next publication I will talk about how to become rich. Stay with us!

Wealth – what is it? This word usually means financial situation a person or a state when they have a number of values, the number of which far exceeds their immediate needs. These values can be both material and spiritual. We can also talk about a person’s natural resources, which play a huge role in his life.

Word in dictionaries

According to the wording given in dictionaries, wealth is:

The name of material and other assets concentrated in someone's hands. Example: This person has enormous spiritual wealth.
Designation of the condition of a wealthy person. Example: Take this advice: don't show off your wealth.
Variety or abundance of something - in a figurative sense. Example: The richness of colors in the paintings of Renaissance artists amazes viewers.

As synonyms for this word one can cite such as luxury, abundance, and as antonyms: poverty, scarcity, poverty.

Origin of the word

As for the origin of this word, it originates in the Proto-Slavic language, from where it passed into Russian and into many Slavic languages: Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Polish, Czech. In them, the words “wealth” and “rich” have the following meanings:

Happiness.
Abundance.
Property.
Share.
Bread in grain.
Preserved by the gods.
The bestowing lord.
Mister, God.
Livestock, draft animals.

IN English language wealth is denoted by two words, which depends on the corresponding shade of meaning. When talking about possessing values of a material and financial nature, they use the word weath, which is synonymous with well-being. When extreme superiority over other members of society is meant, richness is pronounced. Those countries that are much richer than others are usually called developed.

Wealth from different points of view

Let's consider the understanding of this word in various areas.

In the generally accepted understanding, wealth is the presence in society or among individuals of values of a different nature. Such values include: cash, means of production, houses, apartments, ships, planes. And also these are antiques, works of art, natural resources. In addition to these components, we can also talk about access to various benefits, such as education, healthcare, and culture.
In sociological science, a rich person is understood as a person who owns a significant amount of valuables relative to the rest of the members of the society to which he belongs.
Economists define wealth as the difference between what is available in this moment assets and liabilities.
In the sense that the Bible gives this concept, it is spiritual wealth and high moral qualities.

Developing views on wealth

Adam Smith. Representative classical school, who created a theory describing the nature of capital and how to optimally accumulate wealth.
David Ricardo. He developed the views of Smith, supplementing them with original theories - international trade and land rent.
Thomas Malthus. He was the first to show the dependence of a country's wealth on population growth, which significantly reduces it.
John Mill. He was engaged in deepening the theories of his predecessors, justifying the need for the functioning of a free market that promotes the greatest economic growth and increase in the wealth of society and individuals.
Robert Kiyosaki and Bodo Schaefer. Developed independently psychological appearance a person whose acquisition creates the opportunity to accumulate wealth.
Karl Marx. Author of “The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation.” He came up with the idea that accumulation at one pole of wealth simultaneously leads to accumulation at the opposite pole - poverty, slavery, ignorance and moral degradation.

Russian thought of the 17th-19th centuries

IN XVII-XIX centuries in Russia, church and socio-economic thought offered a different view of the essence of wealth. For example, in Domostroy, and later in Ivan Pososhkov (the first Russian economic theorist) in “The Book of Poverty and Wealth”, not only its material, but also its moral and ethical character is considered.

Here the emphasis is placed on the biblical understanding of the category we are studying, according to which a person’s wealth is an obstacle to his entry into the Kingdom of God. In the 19th century, the Old Believer and industrialist Timofey Prokhorov published a work entitled “On Getting Rich.” In it, he gave a rationale for the idea that wealth is a necessary condition for the development of society, science and industry.

Special mission

But according to Prokhorov, wealth also has another side - it is a special mission that God has entrusted to a person. The creator gave wealth for temporary use, and then he will demand an account of how it was used. Accumulation and increase of material values by everyone next generation is a natural process.

But at the same time, Prokhorov notes that a guarantee of the successful use of accumulated capital is a moral life. In his opinion, “clean wealth” is necessary for both bankers and businessmen. Wealth will be useful if the person acquiring it lives according to God.

The 20th century economist Vasily Yarotsky understood wealth as the entire sum of life human interests in full, and not just what is translated into a monetary valuation of objects and relationships.

In the next part of the article, we will consider questions about natural resources and the labor of people, which are closely related.

Most Valuable Resource

One of the types of wealth is those resources that are given to man by our planet. The most valuable of these are minerals. This is the main resource that is used by man to produce various goods. Minerals include natural substances found in the earth's crust and in the subsoil of the sea. These are oil, gas, coal, metal ores, minerals. They are classified as non-renewable resources that will eventually be depleted.

Other types of resources

Other types of natural resources include the following:

Air. It is necessary for a person not only to breathe, but also to carry out a number of technological processes– combustion, oxidation, cooling. At the same time, the volume of air consumed is relatively small, while the threat is its pollution from automobile exhausts and industrial gases.
Water. This resource is found in bodies of water such as streams, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. It is used in many different industries and can last a very long time if not used as a disposal site for industrial waste.
Sun. It is a natural source of heat and light, very beneficial when used optimally.
Vegetable world. Consists of the entire collection of plants inhabiting the Earth. Wood is used for construction, fruits and vegetables are used in food, many plants are used in the textile industry (cotton, flax, hemp).
Animal world. It includes animals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects. In addition to being used as a food source, they are raw materials for making clothing, shoes, jewelry, and medicines. Horses, bulls, camels, deer, and dogs are used as labor.

Being the basis of wealth, natural resources require considerable human effort to obtain it. Let's consider this issue in more detail.

Driving force

Natural resources and labor are closely interconnected. Labor is driving force in its acquisition. You can't do without it:

Extract natural resources.
Work to create capital.
Produce goods and services.

The work of people of various professions, mental and physical, is important for the economy. Both of these directions are inseparable from each other. This is clearly seen in the example of the construction industry, rocket science, and the automotive industry, where the labor of both ordinary workers and talented scientists, architects, and engineers is needed.

Thus, wealth and the work to create it require high-quality education. In our age, when technology has reached an unprecedented level of development, the existence modern economy unthinkable without educated people, without progress in science and technology.

Another important component labor process is human health. If people are constantly sick or feel unwell, there can be no question of them performing their work duties well. Therefore, the development of medicine and propaganda come to the fore here. healthy image life.

Wealth (Wealth) is the totality of all material and intangible values of a person or society as a whole.

The wealth of society in the traditional sense, which dates back to the founders of the classical school (A. Smith, D. Ricardo, etc.), was considered as a set material goods, accumulated by the labors of both previous and present generations. Modern economics is critical of the idea of only the material content of wealth. Today, there is a different approach to understanding this category, namely, that wealth is everything that people value. Such a definition of wealth allows us to include natural resources, innate human abilities, professional knowledge, and free time. From a theoretical perspective, this definition of wealth illuminates the various intricacies of this economic category. On the other hand, when it comes to international comparisons of national wealth and statistical calculations, such a broad definition of wealth makes it difficult (if not impossible) to calculate specific figures. We must also not forget that all the wealth of society can be represented both in monetary and in kind form. Therefore, when the value of money itself changes, one can come to different results of assessments of the same set of material goods. In addition, a change in the assessments of people themselves can lead to a change in the real size of the wealth of a certain state. For example, in the USSR a quantity of shoes was produced per year that far exceeded similar indicators in England, Germany and France combined. The production of metal-cutting machines, cement, etc. also exceeded the indicators of the most developed countries in the world. But are these indicators reflecting the production of goods? real creation wealth in the country, if, for example, people bought shoes from domestic manufacturers only when they could not find imported ones? Is Russia poor or rich? You can always hear directly opposite answers to this question. Yes, we are poor, because... we do not have enough housing at affordable prices, domestic clothing, domestic food, etc. Yes, we are rich, because... we have enormous reserves of natural resources, a priority in many scientific research, qualified personnel. Sometimes the question is posed differently: if we are so rich, then for what reason are we so poor? Have we become richer if, for example, we increased gas and oil production at the cost of pollution? environment?

It should be noted once again that the understanding of wealth largely depends on people’s assessments. In many ways, this is a normative category and does not exist outside of people’s judgments about the value of any good. Wealth can also be represented as everything that expands a person’s choice, his alternative possibilities. From this point of view, money, things, free time, natural resources, and knowledge expand people's choices and can be equated to wealth.

It must always be viewed in the context of need satisfaction. For example, if goods are available in quantities in which they are able to satisfy all our needs to the point of complete saturation and are accessible, then we can say that we are rich. But more and more we are turning our attention to the normative context in defining the concept of wealth. Is a millionaire rich who is bedridden by illness and has lost physical and mental capacity? Is a yogi rich who lives on a minimum of food and is busy understanding God? What does the rather popular expression “the main wealth is freedom” or “the main wealth is health” mean? Is it possible to be free without having the amount of goods called living wage?

All these questions, when analyzing the concept of wealth, are posed in order to emphasize the importance of normative, evaluative categories in economic theory.