This paper combines theory with data from different domains to provide an empirical analysis of the scale and variability of social capital as wealth. The analysis is used to argue, given what has been learned from the literature on social capital, that the welfare returns to investing in trust...

With the notable exception of China, in most countries with below-median per capita income the growth rate of the population is greater than that of total wealth. This trend is ultimately unsustainable. For many of these countries, policies for sustainability will require both boosting savings...