Wealth is something that is counted and accumulates (or decrements).
Power is ranking. If you double your wealth, but maintain (or reduce) your power ranking, net-net you've lost power.
There are other elements at play. Discretionary wealth and power also matter. If you're in a position where all your wealth and/or income are spoken for (e.g., a business with high cash-flow but also high current expenses such as labour, materials, services, rents, etc.; or a governmental unit with high mandated spending / entitlements), then a numerically high budget still entails little actual discretionary power. Similarly, an entity with immense resources and preeminent ranking but where most or all options are already spoken for, where there are no good discretionary options, has nominal power but little actual power.
A classic example of the latter is a regime which embarks on a military misadventure only to find that it can pour in vast amounts of blood and capital for little actual return, ending up bogged down in a quagmire: Vietnam, Afghanistan (multiple instances), the Western Front (WWI), Gallipoli (WWI), winter invasions of Russia (Napoleon, Hitler/Barbarossa), the Charge of the Light Brigade, Waterloo, Agincourt, the Spanish Armada, etc.
Wealth is something that is counted and accumulates (or decrements).
Power is ranking. If you double your wealth, but maintain (or reduce) your power ranking, net-net you've lost power.
There are other elements at play. Discretionary wealth and power also matter. If you're in a position where all your wealth and/or income are spoken for (e.g., a business with high cash-flow but also high current expenses such as labour, materials, services, rents, etc.; or a governmental unit with high mandated spending / entitlements), then a numerically high budget still entails little actual discretionary power. Similarly, an entity with immense resources and preeminent ranking but where most or all options are already spoken for, where there are no good discretionary options, has nominal power but little actual power.
A classic example of the latter is a regime which embarks on a military misadventure only to find that it can pour in vast amounts of blood and capital for little actual return, ending up bogged down in a quagmire: Vietnam, Afghanistan (multiple instances), the Western Front (WWI), Gallipoli (WWI), winter invasions of Russia (Napoleon, Hitler/Barbarossa), the Charge of the Light Brigade, Waterloo, Agincourt, the Spanish Armada, etc.