Tag: resource curse

I’ve been reading a bit about the petrol nations, and how discovering extensive oil reserves in a country often has a kind of “hollowing out” effect on the nation’s economy unless they act to put certain safeguards in place, or are already a significantly developed economy at the time the oil reserves are found. I’m curious about whether there are any historical equivalents to the effect that oil reserve discoveries have on a nation-state, whether raw resources or otherwise.

Well, the resource curse doesn’t just have to do with oil…

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And if you’re looking for a historical example, I would go with the Price Revolution that the Spanish Empire suffered after its conquest of the Americas, where a tidal wave of gold and silver did enormous, lasting damage to the Spanish economy.