It is dependent upon, and reinforces, the economy of the local, the civic life of volunteers, voters, policy makers, the local culture that defines who we are, what we believe in, where we came from, and our common, and distinct, heritage as citizens. This aggregate is the organic chemistry of civic and cultural life, the civic glue that binds believers and doers and sharers and producers and consumers in the web of common welfare, in an economy of mutually beneficial local exchange. It is the genius of such a local balance, of individual rights and visions and multiple, shared purposes, that undergirds a productive democracy and a healthy economy. In healthy societies they are interdependent. It is the quality part that is tough to measure, even though quality is the indispensable part of the definition of economy.
Terms denoting material affluence or material impoverishment contain quality in their definitions.
In both instances, quality gives them value. Otherwise, they are meaningless, and thus worthless. Richness eludes us because it is hard to measure. They are thus consistently undervalued. We too often ignore the economic weight of volunteer labor for the common good and the value of goods and services given over, without profit to the giver but instead to the community, by non-profit enterprises.