| wealth The value of the net assets owned by an individual or group of individuals. It is the value of assets minus the value of liabilities. Economics began as the study of wealth (e.g. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations) and how it changes during a given period. Keynesian theory tended to place a greater emphasis on income as the object of study in macroeconomics but it has since been accepted that income only tends to affect the behaviour of individuals as it affects their wealth. |