List of countries by external debt, by government debt, by foreign reserves, etc are pertinent and very interesting but we must not forget countries have external assets also.
Admittedly embassy buildings on foreign soil is of no value as they are unsellable. But external assets include private holding such as multinational corporation's (MNC) foreign assets which reside in the enterprise's balance sheet. This includes fixed assets such as factories, and less tangible such as oil concessions, financial assets residing in foreign accounts ...
One can have a separate debate as to which country "owns" the MNC. No one doubts that Exxon, though an MNC, is a US company. One can define by such things as controlling share etc. Let's just assume for now that every MNC is primarily controlled by a single country.
A country's foreign reserves (which is ultimately owned by individuals and companies) can disappear very quickly if its companies go on a buying spree such as Chinese companies' rapidly acquisition of foreign oil and mineral interests or it's citizenship develop a taste for Ferraris and foreign-made yachts.
Can anyone point me to a List of Country by Networth (External Assets - Liabilities) ? Then we have something closer to the Wealth of Nations, (though it would still not count the internal assets.)
Admittedly embassy buildings on foreign soil is of no value as they are unsellable. But external assets include private holding such as multinational corporation's (MNC) foreign assets which reside in the enterprise's balance sheet. This includes fixed assets such as factories, and less tangible such as oil concessions, financial assets residing in foreign accounts ...
One can have a separate debate as to which country "owns" the MNC. No one doubts that Exxon, though an MNC, is a US company. One can define by such things as controlling share etc. Let's just assume for now that every MNC is primarily controlled by a single country.
A country's foreign reserves (which is ultimately owned by individuals and companies) can disappear very quickly if its companies go on a buying spree such as Chinese companies' rapidly acquisition of foreign oil and mineral interests or it's citizenship develop a taste for Ferraris and foreign-made yachts.
Can anyone point me to a List of Country by Networth (External Assets - Liabilities) ? Then we have something closer to the Wealth of Nations, (though it would still not count the internal assets.)
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