Authors:
- A genuinely new idea backed by solid evidence
- The first ever reliable estimate of the value of the world's publically held commercial assets
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Table of contents (14 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
We have spent the last three decades engaged in a pointless and irrelevant debate about the relative merits of privatization or nationalization. We have been arguing about the wrong thing while sitting on a goldmine of assets.
Don’t worry about who owns those assets, worry about whether they are managed effectively.
Why does this matter? Because despite the Thatcher/ Reagan economic revolution, the largest pool of wealth in the world – a global total that is much larger than the world’s total pensions savings, and ten times the total of all the sovereign wealth funds on the planet – is still comprised of commercial assets that are held in public ownership. If professionally managed, they could generate an annual yield of 2.7 trillion dollars, more than current global spending on infrastructure: transport, power, water, and communications.
Based on both economic research and hands-on experience from many countries, the authors argue that publicly owned commercial assets need to be taken out of the direct and distorting control of politicians and placed under professional management in a ‘National Wealth Fund’ or its local government equivalent. Such a move would trigger much-needed structural reforms in national economies, thus resurrect strained government finances, bolster ailing economic growth, and improve the fabric of democratic institutions.
This radical, reforming book was named one of the "Books of the Year".by both the FT and The Economist.
Reviews
“I recommended Detter and Folster’s The Public Wealth of Nations, a smart read that pulls data and management strategies from throughout the globe in order to argue for ways we can add value to public assets and hence increase economic growth.” (The Philadelphia Citizen, thephiladelphiacitizen.org, December, 2016)
“Detter (formerly, Swedish Ministry of Industry) and Fölster (Reform Institute, Sweden) contend that democracy works best when governments have little direct access to public wealth. … The authors present a compelling argument that better management of publicly owned assets would improve economic welfare … . Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” (R. E. Schenk, Choice, Vol. 53 (12), August, 2016)
-Matthew Valencia, The Economist
'At a time of mistrust in traditional politics and weak public finances, Dag Detter and Stefan Fölster show politicians the way to demonstrate they are on the side of the people and to manage government assets better. There should be no excuse for those in power to dismiss these ideas.'
-Chris Giles, Economics Editor, Financial Times
'Better government handling of public assets is, or should be, a key issue in many countries. With his background as a former Director at the Ministry of Industry and former President of Stattum, the Swedish governmentholding company, Dag Detter can speak with great authority and depth of practical experience on the alternative approaches which governments might take. The Public Wealth of Nations is an important contribution to a debate of vital concern to governments across the world.'
-Lord Sassoon, former Commercial Secretary, HM Treasury
'This provocative book is a wake-up call for governments to become more responsible in managing their citizen's wealth and securing the foundation for future generations.'
-Marcel Fratzscher, President of DIW Berlin, Professor at Humboldt-University; Member of the Advisory Council of the Ministry of Economy of Germany
"In this important book, the authors convincingly argue using many examples that, like with pension funds or even households, an asset-liability approach is needed for public finance as well. They show that intelligent management of public assets can have a huge impact on government revenues, creating room for tax cuts, andon economic growth.'
-Dr. William De Vijlder, Group Chief Economist, BNP Paribas
"This important book shows the way forward in turning the latent Public Wealth of Nations into actual riches.'
-Willem H. Buiter, Global Chief Economist, Citi
About the authors
Stefan Fölster is The Managing Director of the Reform Institute (a market-oriented think tank in Stockholm with a focus on innovative reforms). He was previously the Chief Economist for the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. He has authored many articles and books, for example the recent Renaissance of Reforms published jointly by the IEA and Timbro.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Public Wealth of Nations
Book Subtitle: How Management of Public Assets Can Boost or Bust Economic Growth
Authors: Dag Detter, Stefan Fölster
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137519863
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management Collection, Business and Management (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-51984-9Published: 29 June 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-70490-3Published: 16 September 2017
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-51986-3Published: 05 February 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 230
Topics: Organizational Studies, Economic Sociology, International Business, Business Ethics, Public Finance, Development Economics, Business Strategy/Leadership