This part of the article at least is quite accurate: "....finding a hole in the ground that spouts money can be one of the worst things to happen to a nation."
On Nov 4, 2007 6:46 AM, Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > NY Times Magazine, November 4, 2007 > The Perils of Petrocracy > By TINA ROSENBERG > ......... > Historically, almost every country dependent on the export of oil has > answered this question in the same way: badly. It may seem paradoxical, > but finding a hole in the ground that spouts money can be one of the > worst things to happen to a nation. With one or two exceptions, > oil-dependent countries are poorer, more conflict-ridden and despotic. > OPEC's own studies show the perils of relying on oil. Between 1965 and > 1998, the economies of OPEC members contracted by 1.3 percent a year. > Oil-dependent nations do especially badly by their poor: infant > survival, nutrition, life expectancy, literacy, schooling — all are > worse in oil-producing countries. The history of oil-dependent countries > has produced what Terry Lynn Karl, a Stanford University professor, > calls the paradox of plenty. > > Oil not only creates very few jobs, it also destroys jobs in other > sectors. By pushing up a country's exchange rate, the export of oil > distorts the economy. "Oil rents drive out any other productive > activity," Karl says. "Why would you bother to produce your own food if > you could buy it? Why would you bother to develop any kind of export > industry if oil makes your money worth more and that hurts all your > other exports?" The most successful societies develop a middle class > through manufacturing; oil makes this extremely difficult.
