Foreign Affairs published an article about the forthcoming book, The Public Wealth of Nations: How Management of Public Assets Can Boost or Bust Economic Growth (Palgrave Macmillan).
Most countries’ public wealth is larger than their public debt. While managing debt has become a matter of great concern during the financial crisis, public wealth remains opaque and largely ignored. According to our calculations an achievable improvement in public wealth management would yield returns greater than the world’s combined investment in infrastructure such as transport, power, water and communications. This article explores how some countries are experimenting with institutional setups, such as National Wealth Funds that achieve sounder management and cleaner democracy.
The article and the book are authored by Dag Detter and Stefan Fölster. Dag Detter is Managing Director of Whetstone and former President of Stattum, the Swedish government holding company. Stefan Fölster is Director of the Reform Institute and Associate Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm.