Physical and Produced Capital

The physical infrastructure used in a country, such as: buildings, bridges and machinery.

Video

Dimitri Zenghelis on Cities and Wealth

Over the next fifty years, most new wealth will be accumulated in cities; this includes physical infrastructure (road, rail, electricity, telecommunications and sanitation), productive capital (houses, offices and factories) and knowledge capital (skills, knowhow and ideas). The development of cities will also determine humanity’s ability to preserve natural capital. Consequently, urbanisation deserves urgent attention from policymakers, academics and businesses worldwide. Dimitri Zenghelis discusses how well-governed, connected, clean cities are likely to attract productive capital, talent, and creativity; while bad governance and inaction over planning can erode progress for decades to centuries.


Video

Michael Klein on Infrastructure and Wealth Creation

Infrastructure services in energy, transport, water and telecommunications services underpin the wealth of modern nations. Yet, inefficiencies abound. In developing nations hundreds of millions of people lack access to modern infrastructure services. Globally as much as 40% of expenditures on infrastructure may constitute waste, equivalent to some 1 to 2 % of global GDP. Michael Klein discusses infrastructure development, links between infrastructure, wealth and economic growth, and more.



Video

Economic policy: from market fixing to market creating and shaping

Mariana Mazzucato speaks about the importance of the public sector in wealth creation


Video

Cities and the new climate economy

Cities are central to knowledge growth but also resource efficiency, with infrastructural lock-in playing a key role in determining resource use


Report

Citi GPS: The Public Wealth of Nations

Governments around the world have an estimated $75 trillion of dollars of public assets, ranging from corporations to forests, which are often badly managed and frequently not even accounted for on their balance sheets. Over recent decades, policy makers have focused almost solely on managing debt while largely ignoring the question of public wealth. Given that in most countries public wealth is larger than public debt, just managing it better could help to solve the debt problem while also providing the material for future economic growth. A higher return of just 1% on global public assets would add some $750 billion to public revenues. Poor management not only throws money down the drain, but also forecloses opportunities.

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