Natural resources as key component of the national wealth of a country: qualitative and quantitative characteristics, economic role and problems of increasing the efficiency of use
According to the tradition of classical political economy, the national wealth of any country includes, along with social wealth, natural wealth represented by the «substance of nature», not yet mediated by social labor, but allowing the impact of cash means of production. The subject of this article is precisely the natural component of the national wealth of the Russian Federation. The author analyzes briefly the natural resource potential of modern Russia, including the main minerals, their reserves and development prospects. The role of natural resources in the socio-economic development of the country in the long-term retrospective is considered. Key problems of increasing the efficiency of using these resources in the present and in the future are identified and approaches to their solution are outlined.