Public wealth: the concept and evaluation attempts

Abstract

The article outlines the concept of public wealth as a part of national wealth that consists of resources, values and goods that belong to the whole society. The composition of public wealth is determined: public assets (property and values that are in state and communal ownership); potential public resources; social human capital. The expediency of dividing human capital into individual human capital (which concerns exclusively his private existence) and social human capital (in the sphere of collective interaction) is indicated.
The necessity of the analysis of public wealth from the standpoint of assets is proved. It is stated that public property can be a liability for budgets, returning losses to the state and local government. The necessity of taking into account potential public resources (lands, forests, roads, subsoil) is substantiated. The paper attempts to estimate the public wealth in Ukraine and identifies it in excess of 10 annual GDP.
It is pointed out that in Ukraine the relations of state-owned enterprises with suppliers, contractors and buyers often increase the cost and cut their revenues. This system is characterized as a process of flowing public wealth into private hands - the nationalization of losses and privatization of profits by business structures close to state-owned enterprises. It is argued that the streamlining of public wealth management should provide for maximum involvement in the economic turnover of natural resources, ensuring openness and creating market conditions, privatization and lease. The advantages of using best practices in the field of state property management by creating holding companies that represent the interests of taxpayers and carry out professional corporate asset management are shown.