'''Wealth''' is the [[:wikt:abundance|abundance]] of [[Value (economics)|valuable]] [[resource]]s or material [[Property|possessions]]. The [[word]] wealth is derived from the old English ''weal'', which is from an [[Indo-European]] word stem.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wealth] "wealth." ''The [[American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'', 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin Company. Accessed 21 Feb. 2009.</ref> An individual, community, region or country that possesses an abundance of such possessions or resources is known as wealthy.
The [[concept]] of wealth is of significance in all areas of [[economics]], and clearly so for [[growth economics]] and [[development economics]]. Yet the meaning of wealth is context-dependent and there is no universally agreed upon definition. At the most general level, economists may define wealth as "anything of value" which captures both the subjective nature of the idea and the idea that it is not a fixed or static concept. Various definitions and concepts of wealth have been asserted by various individuals and in different contexts.<ref name="goulet">Denis "Authentic Development: Is it Sustainable?", pp. 189-205 in ''Building Sustainable Societies'', Dennis Pirages, ed., [[M. E. Sharpe]], ISBN 1-56324-738-0, 9781563247385. (1996)</ref> Defining wealth can be a [[normative]] process with various [[ethical]] implications, since often wealth maximization is seen as a goal or is thought to be a normative principle of its own.<ref>[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/467637] Anthony T. Kronman, "Wealth Maximization as a Normative Principle", ''[[The Journal of Legal Studies]]'', vol. 9 (March 1980)</ref><ref name="Heilbroner">[[Robert L. Heilbroner]], 1987 <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics|2008]]. ''[[The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics]]'', v. 4, pp. 880-83. Brief preview [http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/search_results?q=wealth+%22New+palgrave%22+heilbroner+%22Wealth+is+a+fundamental+concept%22&edition=current&button_search=GO link].</ref>
Although precise data are not available, the total [[household wealth]] in the world has been estimated at $125 [[Orders of magnitude (numbers)#1012|trillion]] (USD 125 x10<sup>12</sup>) in year 2000.<ref>[http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/past-events/2006-events/en_GB/05-12-2006/] UNU-WIDER The World Distribution of Household Wealth</ref>