Prediction of national wealth

In their book, IQ and the Wealth of Nations, Lynn and Vanhanen ([Lynn, R. and Vanhanen, T. (2002). IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, CT: Praeger.]) proposed the hypothesis that “the intelligence of the populations has been a major factor responsible for the national differences in economic growth and for the gap in per capita income between rich and poor nations” (p. xv). They presented analyses showing that national wealth can be predicted by IQ, democracy, economic freedom, and oil production. This paper has four goals. First, we examine the robustness of Lynn and Vanhanen findings using updated IQ and wealth variables and updated sources of democracy, economic freedom, and oil production. Second, we evaluate the curvilinear relationship between IQ and national wealth. Third, we address concerns over the accuracy of IQ estimates in low IQ countries by evaluating whether the relationship between IQ and national wealth is dependent on precise estimates of IQ. Fourth, we extend the predictor space of national wealth by examining its correlates with public expenditures on health and education.