In a particular context or setting, wealth comes from four sources:
Effort -- This is closely related to the conventional economics concept of labor (and perhaps some economists define labor exactly in this manner), but by effort I mean work not workers. Effort is action.
Resources -- Tangible and intangible assets, which include (importantly) energy, and other environmental and human attributes. This is closely related to some conceptions of "capital" as used by economists (and, again, perhaps some economists use exactly this definition).
Luck -- There are some consequences that are simply the result of factors beyond our intentional actions. These would include, for the individual, a genetic predisposition to good health or a Monet found at a garage sale, and for a nation, bountiful energy resources. Luck can be good or bad with respect to valued outcomes.
Innovation -- Here I mean the Solow residual (in economics terms). In plain language, it is what Peter Drucker defined as "change that creates in a new dimension of performance" or what Joseph Schumpeter defined as "any “doing things differently” in the realm of economic life."
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