The real assets are perhaps those we overlook...
The world might have come a long way since Adam Smith wrote his pathbreaking book, The Wealth of Nations, but the essence of wealth in any business or for any nation, remains as inevitable as ever, even though its paradigm is ever changing. Gone are the days of Oregon Trail and the mad rush for gold; in today’s era, gold has been replaced by many of its poorer brethren as more important assets. Late 20th century saw the ascent of many of the Middle East countries simply because they were hosts to one of the largest reserves of crude oil in the world, an incredible wealth to hold on to. Soon it became one of the richest parts of the world. Yet the Arab sheikhs were prudent enough to realise that crude oil is an exhaustible wealth which made them start investing in physical infrastructure of Arab world as well as in the global financial markets.
The Arab investments in the US markets is just a shade less than a trillion dollar and ever increasing to make sure that even when oil is exhausted one day, their owners would not be. Similarly the world was for long divided between those countries which were bestowed with rich mineral resources and those which were not. Mother Earth by that standard has been a little more generous on Africa than many others. Yet more minerals and metals does not necessarily translate into more prosperity. Africa stands testimony to that. Contrast this with a country like Japan, devoid of any mineral wealth worth talking about. Yet, when Japan imports iron ore to make quality steel and from it makes world class cars to sell at a premium, it vindicates that the real wealth is perhaps not in metals but in the mind which can add value to them.
The world might have come a long way since Adam Smith wrote his pathbreaking book, The Wealth of Nations, but the essence of wealth in any business or for any nation, remains as inevitable as ever, even though its paradigm is ever changing. Gone are the days of Oregon Trail and the mad rush for gold; in today’s era, gold has been replaced by many of its poorer brethren as more important assets. Late 20th century saw the ascent of many of the Middle East countries simply because they were hosts to one of the largest reserves of crude oil in the world, an incredible wealth to hold on to. Soon it became one of the richest parts of the world. Yet the Arab sheikhs were prudent enough to realise that crude oil is an exhaustible wealth which made them start investing in physical infrastructure of Arab world as well as in the global financial markets.
The Arab investments in the US markets is just a shade less than a trillion dollar and ever increasing to make sure that even when oil is exhausted one day, their owners would not be. Similarly the world was for long divided between those countries which were bestowed with rich mineral resources and those which were not. Mother Earth by that standard has been a little more generous on Africa than many others. Yet more minerals and metals does not necessarily translate into more prosperity. Africa stands testimony to that. Contrast this with a country like Japan, devoid of any mineral wealth worth talking about. Yet, when Japan imports iron ore to make quality steel and from it makes world class cars to sell at a premium, it vindicates that the real wealth is perhaps not in metals but in the mind which can add value to them.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
