Countries blessed with abundant natural resources often seek financial and political power from their supposedly lucky status. But the potentially negative impact of natural resources on development of poor countries is captured in the phrase "the resource curse." Instead of success and prosperity, producers of gold, oil, rubber, sugar, and other commodities--many in the least developed parts of Africa and Asia--often remain mired in poverty and plagued by economic mismanagement, political authoritarianism, foreign exploitation, and violent conflict. These difficulties and the many...
Countries blessed with abundant natural resources often seek financial and political power from their supposedly lucky status. But the potentially neg...
