How is wealth divided between public debt, corporate capital, housing capital and net external assets?
The total wealth of a country is the sum of: Public debt; Corporate capital; Housing capital; Net external assets (if there is net external debt, a portion of the components of wealth belongs to non-residents). We seek to determine how the wealth of the United States, the euro zone and Japan is divided between these different components. The interesting results of this analysis are: The proportion of non-housing capital in total wealth is significantly higher in the United States than in the euro zone or Japan; Productivity growth has consistently been much stronger in the United States than in the euro zone or Japan.