Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
- The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: connecting past, present and future
- Part 1 Framework
- Part 2 Transition
- Part 3 Economic expansion of the colonies
- Part 4 A national economy
- Part 5 Building the modern economy
- Part 6 Looking backwards and to the future
- 21 A statistical narrative: Australia, 1800–2010
- 22 Wealth and welfare
- 23 Property rights regimes and their environmental impacts
- 24 Refiguring Indigenous economies: a 21st-century perspective
- Statistical Appendix: selected data series, 1800–2010
- References
- Subject index
- Company index
22 - Wealth and welfare
from Part 6 - Looking backwards and to the future
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
Book contents
- The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
- The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: connecting past, present and future
- Part 1 Framework
- Part 2 Transition
- Part 3 Economic expansion of the colonies
- Part 4 A national economy
- Part 5 Building the modern economy
- Part 6 Looking backwards and to the future
- 21 A statistical narrative: Australia, 1800–2010
- 22 Wealth and welfare
- 23 Property rights regimes and their environmental impacts
- 24 Refiguring Indigenous economies: a 21st-century perspective
- Statistical Appendix: selected data series, 1800–2010
- References
- Subject index
- Company index
Summary
This chapter examines several measures of national and personal wealth and welfare in Australia. An individual's wealth refers to the stock of assets under their control at a particular moment, while their income is the flow of resources that allows them to add to that stock. In addition to a person's absolute command over resources, or their level of income relative to others, other factors, such as their health, happiness, security, freedom and access to opportunity, also impact on their welfare. The link between economic growth and changes to individual wealth and welfare is not simple, as the distribution of the benefits of growth, and the forms that it can take, vary across time and place. The chapter focuses on economic aspects of wealth, income and welfare while also recognising some of the social dimensions impacting on an individual's wellbeing. The distribution of personal resources is an element impacting on personal wealth and wellbeing.
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- The Cambridge Economic History of Australia , pp. 489 - 510Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
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