Brad wrote:
>Twelvefold increases in GDP per capita with no rise in income inequality
>over the first three decades after independence? Botswana's economy is
>unbalanced toward mining, and it has a ferocious case of Dutch disease
>because of its mining industry.
>
>But the overall record in terms of improvements in material welfare is
>astonishing. (Although, alas, Botswana is about to be hit very hard by the
>AIDS crisis.) Botswana doesn't need "balance": it needs to find a niche in
>the southern African regional economy that will sustain further rapid
>growth, whether or not that niche meets some definition of "development."
>Denmark never "developed" after all...
but it looks like the Botswana economy is highly dependent on diamonds. If
the demand falls -- say, due to a severe world recession -- the Botswanan
economy would likely fall too. Unlike Denmark, it doesn't sound like B has
a highly-skilled work-force and much to fall back on.
BTW, aren't a lot of the diamond profits sent abroad? Wouldn't these be
reported as a plus in GDP even though they are income somewhere else?
wouldn't that help explain the low investment rate relative to the saving rate?
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine
