What are total net assets for the world as reflected in balance sheets
by central banks, World Bank, IMF for each country? Also, Merrill
Lynch-Capgemini 2004 World Wealth Report reports wealth of High Net
Worth Individuals, and may have data I am looking for, but you will
need to contact executives in charge of the research. It is
recommended that someone with a background in economics undertake this
assignment. Please denominate in dollars. In poor nations, make
estimates and advise as to methodology/model used and why. Please
provide links to sources for all information so it may be verified.
Exemplary job gets bonus. Good luck!

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Jun 2005 12:23 PDT

I have a pretty good background in economics and national accounts,
but I'm not very clear on what you're after here.

Your question title specifies "households" and "non-profit
corporations"...does this mean that corporate assests should be
factored out?

What's more, I don't believe "net assets" has a universally-understood
and well-accepted meaning in the context of national accounts.

If you can point us to a single example of the type of data you're
after, I think it would be a great help in getting you an answer to
your question.

For instance, if you can point to a "net assets" figure that meets
your needs for the UK, or France or wherever, then it could serve as a
guide for finding similar stats for the rest of the world.

Thanks,

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by superluminal-ga on 09 Jun 2005 13:39 PDT

Thank you for your response. I'll attempt to clarify. In US Federal
Reserve Statistical Release dated June 10, 2004, Flow of Funds
Accounts 2004, First Quarter, on page 102, "B.100 Balance Sheet of
Households and Nonprofit Organizations (1)", Assets = $54,987.9
billion; Liabilities = $9,834.8 billion; Net Worth = $45,153.2
billion.

I'm not an economist, but would not these calculations include
corporate assets as all for-profit corporations are factored into
household balance sheets? If not, I will also need these numbers
factored in. They are also in the Fed Report. There may also be a more
current Fed Report. I obtained this one on-line about 4 weeks ago.
Also, are durable goods included?

What I am trying to do is paint a picture of global wealth. We all
know the poverty statistics. We also know GNP and GNI. In
philanthropy, we try to look at assets in order to create a new
context for what's affordable in terms on giving. For instance, the
industrialized nations promised 7/10 of 1% GNP, and have delivered
5/10 of 1% GNP, with the US delivering 2/10 of 1% of GNP. Obviously,
when looking at the asssets picture for the US which is roughly four
times GNP, we can see that the percentage of assets is in the
neighborhood of .005%.

Dr. Edward Wolff at NYU (edward.wolff@nyu.edu) did a study of US 
"Changes in Household Wealth in the 1980s and 1990s in the U.S."
http://www.levy.org/default.asp?view=publications_view&pubID=fca3a440ee
on page 31, "Table 3. Mean Wealth Holdings and Income by Wealth or
Income Class, 1983-2001(In thousands, 2001 dollars)" In 2001, Median
Net Worth for US Household was $380,100 @ est total US households at
105,000,000 = $39,910 billion, so it seems the Fed Reserve numbers are
OK.

Merrill Lynch-Capgemini did a study "2004 World Wealth Report" 
http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_6261_14832_14938
announced assets of High Net Worth Indivduals. Report:
http://www.ml.com/media/18252.pdf. They may have some numbers but you
will need to query study executives as I have not had success with PR
people returning calls.

The Observer reports off-shore assets in tax havens to be $11.5
trillion:  http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1446120,00.html?gusrc=rss

So, in closing, by whatever means, I need to paint a picture of global
wealth. It may be necessary query all national banks or to query IMF
or World Bank researchers or create total for world by examining each
country: World Development Indicators 2005
http://www.worldbank.org/data/.

Let me know if you need additional clarification.

All the best