A Country's Standard of Living

The standard of living of any country means the average person's share of the goods and services which the country produces.

A country's standard of living,therefore,depends first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth.

Wealth in this sense is not money,for we do not live on money but on things that money can buy: goods such as food and clothing,and services such as transport and entertainment.

A country's capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors,most of which have an effect on one another.

Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country's natural resources,such as coal, gold, and other minerals,water supply and so on.

Some regions of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals,and have a fertile soil and a favourable climate;other regions possess none of them.

Next to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use.

Some countries are perhaps well off in natural resources,but suffered for many years from civil and external wars,and for this and other reasons have been unable to develop their resources.

Sound and stable political conditions,and freedom from foreign invasion,enable a country to develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily,and to produce more wealth than another country equally well served by nature but less well ordered.

Another important factor is the technical efficiency of a country's people.

Industrialized countries that have trained numerous skilled workers and technicians are better placed to produce wealth than countries whose workers are largely unskilled.

A country's standard of living does not only depend upon the wealth that is produced and consumed within its own borders,but also upon what is indirectly produced through international trade.

For example, Britain's wealth in foodstuffs and other agricultural products would be much less if she had to depend only on those grown at home.

Trade makes it possible for her surplus manufactured goods to be traded abroad for the agricultural products that would otherwise be lacking.

A country's wealth is, therefore,much influenced by its manufacturing capacity,provided that other countries can be found ready to accept its manufactures.