Are Rich Countries Also the Smartest?
It's not just how free the market is. Some economists are looking at another factor that determines how much a country’s economy flourishes: how smart its people are.
To speak of human capital is to consider individuals as they relate the economy. What role does intelligence play in this relationship? “In the last 50 years or so, economists have started taking an interest in the value of human capital. That means all of the qualities of the people who make up the workforce. Heiner Rindermann, of the Chemnitz University of Technology, wanted to look more closely at human capital, and particularly the factor that psychologists call cognitive ability. ‘In other words, it’s the ability of a person to solve a problem in the most efficient way—not with violence, but by thinking,’ Rindermann says.”
