SECRET OF WEALTHY NATIONS
What is that one secret that makes Nations wealthy?
Why do some Nations and some races end up with high per capita wealth and most others languish in low per capita wealth? Does it have to do with natural resources? Yes and No. Arab countries gifted with liquid gold have Royal families with a lot of wealth and citizens with reasonable per capita. But there are many countries in Africa for example which have significant natural resources but still suffer from immense per capita poverty. Singapore and Japan have very few natural resources yet they are quite wealthy.
The greatest common factor amongst all wealthy Nations and the secret to making any Nation wealthy is how it values its working class. Caucasians as a race have been the most prominent success story in prospering due to adoption of much higher minimum wages and salaries for its working class. As working class is the majority of the population their financial betterment creates incredible rise in the demand for goods and services as a whole in the Nation. Thereby expanding the economy and making the entire Nation wealthy. A cleaner in America will drive to work, will have a TV and a Fridge at home and heating in winter. Whereas a cleaner in a poor country will barely be able to feed his family with his salary and live in a hutment type dwelling. In a poor country the rich and the middle class are a minority and only they will purchase TV, Washing Machines, Refrigerators, cars, hire plumbers, build homes, etc. So this shrinks the economy on the whole making less money available for the Government as taxes and in general to the citizens and their industries which then reduces the number of jobs. Exact opposite occurs in Nations which have much higher minimum wages and working class salaries. Here the majority will also buy all the goods and services mentioned above thereby creating a massive demand in the economy which in turn creates very large industries and service firms which meet these demands thereby creating more higher paying white collar jobs and much higher taxes for the Government. A great case as an example is South Africa. Entire African continent is littered with poor, struggling economies but in the that same continent South Africa's per capita wealth is much higher and comparable to some of the European Nations. Why? The secret is the same. Caucasians brought with them higher pay for the working class. In philosophical terms also it makes sense: law of karma: when you treat the lower strata of society well you too will be blessed with greater wealth and prosperity. When the lower strata of society is exploited and suffer from in justice their Nations too languish in various kinds of misery and poverty.
A Few Other Factors:
1. Technology: One of the key reasons for USA to continue to be such a force in the global economy and host the highest number of billionaires in the world is its leadership in venture capital investments - especially in new technology. There is an entire culture and eco-system that invests in ideas to lab successes to prototyping/proof of concept to commercializing new technology. California a State in USA alone invests more in venture financing then rest of the world combined! This also attracts the best minds to migrate to USA from all over the world to become part of such a risk taking eco-system. The Nation that can encourage and build such a venture backing eco-system can rise rapidly in wealth despite other shortcomings - two recent examples being India and China - although both are in early stages and no where close to USA but such investments have given birth to multi-billion dollar ventures like Alibaba, Flipkart, Tencent and Snapdeal in a very short time. If the Governments encourage this eco-system then this can snowball into a 1000 such companies spreading new wealth and high paying jobs across the Nations.
2. Core industry upliftment: Every Nation has a core industry that provides the single largest share of GDP or has the highest number of citizens employed in that industry. For example in India agriculture employs 60% of the population. If the Government can build a team of successful business leaders who have delivered decades of successful track record at large organizations and shown the highest integrity and talent to build a new organization that takes care of all aspects of agriculture then 60% of the population will turn wealthy overnight from abject poverty thereby creating a frenzy of economic growth for the rest of the economy due to their rising buying power. The premise is simple successful business leaders will make better decisions then uneducated farmers who form majority of the Indian agricultural space. They will select better crops to grow, they will select to invest in technology that will deliver the highest yields, they will ensure through proper planning and Central assistance sufficient water bodies are built to provide adequate irrigation, they will insure all seasons, they will provide seeds and purchase all produce at near market prices to ensure that instead of a trading minority the majority get the fruits and profits of their produce, they will invest in research to sell to the markets both domestic as well as International to get the maximum price for the produce and they will invest in downstream processing to add value to the produce and share it with the farmers to make them even more wealthy. Separately in return for all this help they can ask for strict adherence to hygiene, sanitation, spiritual activity, health, education, moral code of conduct while providing social events of merriment. Such an enterprise would not only bring wealth but also health and joy to majority of the population.
3. Massive infrastructure and public spending: China is the biggest example of a strategy where the Government decides to spend vast amount of funds to build massive infrastructure projects Nationwide. This infuses large pool of liquidity and income into the economy, large number of jobs which in turn increases the buying power of more goods and services.
Any economic system that creates sections of the population with poverty or low income resources and opportunities is a failure. All of us have not made the current economic system but have inherited it. It is clearly evident from seeing billions of humans suffer every day due to lack of resources and income that our current economic system is incredibly flawed. Our political system generates leaders who in turn generate policies that govern our lives. But the political systems too are unbelievably immature and old way behind the other segments which have advanced rapidly in our modern age. Only one single change for example can also improve the political system significantly: there should be Political Colleges that teach deep and difficult curriculum an equivalent of ivy league education on each of the subjects needed for Government like Health, Infrastructure, Tax, Technology, Transportation, etc. Only those that can get admission and can graduate in their chosen subject can apply for elections as a candidate and that too only for the ministry or secretariat which is directly related to their major. This one single change will have a colossal impact on the quality of leadership of our Nations. It will lead to the best minds and experts making well informed and brilliant decisions that will help bring prosperity and happiness across the world. We need such Leaders to build a new modern economic system that ensures that all those willing to work have a reasonably fair share of income and resources. Thereby we can finally rid our entire race of the misery and suffering which are caused due to economic hardships.
