It's the people in those buildings that make wealth - their activity.
Same as a house. It shelters you but it's your work that is wealth.
Buildings, land, are sunk costs. It's what people do in them, or with it, which is wealth.
'Wealth', 'money', 'real estate' are symbols.
I think that this starts to get at the root of what wealth is and perhaps why a bunch of shiny buildings aren't necessarily "wealth", but i think it misses the mark a little.
Wealth is the product of work. A home, car or building may or may not represent wealth. If it is paid for and owned, it represents wealth. If the bank owns it, it really represents a liability as it was paid for with the promise of future work.
In a sense, wealth is like light, we can't see it unless it is reflected off of something. Those symbols are the things that wealth reflects off of so we can see them. But those symbols also reflect future work, so until you know that little detail it can't be said whether it is wealth or not. |
