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Human Resources As the Wealth of Nations.
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1975
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Development TheoryEconomic DevelopmentDevelopment EconomicsInternational Human Resource ManagementStrategic Human ResourcesEducationEconomic GrowthNatural ResourcesHuman Capital DevelopmentEconomic Policy AnalysisPolitical EconomyEconomic InequalityHuman Resource DevelopmentNational DevelopmentSocio-economic DevelopmentEconomic DoctrineEconomicsPublic PolicyHuman ResourcesNational EconomiesExploit Natural ResourcesBusinessDeveloping EconomiesDevelopment Policy
Traditional economic doctrine equates national wealth with gross national product per capita, measuring progress primarily through income growth, a perspective that many economists now view as overly narrow. This paper argues that income maximization should not be the sole objective of national policy, proposing instead that human resources—rather than capital or material wealth—constitute the true foundation of a nation's prosperity. Human beings, as active agents, accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, and build social, economic, and political institutions, thereby driving national development.
ACCORDING to economic doctrine, wealth of nations is measured by income, or more precisely by GPN (gross national product) per capita. A wealthy country is a high income country; advanced nations are by definition those with high GNP per capita; and underdeveloped countries are characterized by very low income per head. Rates of growth, or progress along road of modernization, are most commonly measured by annual increments in national income or product expressed in monetary terms. But should income maximization be supreme or even primary objective of national economic policy? Are not other goals-for example, minimization of unemployment, maximization of education and knowledge, limitation of population growth, or improvement in environment-of equal or greater importance? Perhaps in their devout commitment to GNP as primary measure of progress, econoomists have developed a tunnel vision perspective of modern societies. Although I still belong professionally to the church of economics, I am among a small but growing group which argues that GNP or income as major target of national development should lose its sanctity. 1 The central thesis of this paper is that human resources-not capital, income, or material resources-constitute basis for wealth of nations. Capital and natural resources are passive factors of production; human beings are active agents who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic, and political organizations, and carry forward national development. Clearly, a country which is unable