An economist proposes that to calculate a nation's total wealth, one should sum the market value of all productive assets (e.g., factories, equipment) with the total market value of all financial instruments (e.g., stocks, bonds) that represent ownership or claims on those assets. Which of the following statements best evaluates the economist's proposed method?

National Wealth Calculation

A sharp increase in the total market value of all stocks and bonds within a closed economy, without any change in the country's productive assets (like factories and land), represents a genuine increase in that nation's aggregate wealth.

The Role of Financial Intermediation in National Wealth