On the scale of nations, money and journal entries are merely one way of assigning "rights" in a given system of monetary exchange and they tell only one small part of the picture.
The key parameters -- in my view -- are non-monetary, namely:
- who owns the means of production
- who owns the natural resources
- who controls the labor to make products
- who controls the markets, not just for goods and services, but also for transport
- who wields financial power in the institutions
- who holds the military might
- who controls food, water and energy
- what level of competence do national leaders (political, legal, business) have
- what level of competence marks the population as a whole
- what philosophy or consensus guides a nation
Those who give negative answers -- God help them -- but money alone won't help them.
We give no example countries here - pick your own at your own leisure.
You still can not buy into modern civilization with a dollar. It takes more than that.
