Natural Resources and Development: Curse, Blessing and Other Causes
Article from: OGEL 3 (2004), in Energy, Institutional Reforms and Development in Latin America
English Summary
One of the most surprising characteristics of elite Venezuelan contemporary society is that the more this society is aware of the country's abundant endowment of natural resources, e.g. oil and gas, the worst are the economic and political problems that arise in order to take advantage of them! In contrast, when in the past the elite considered the resources depletable, the country showed high rates of economic growth. These two periods of Venezuela's recent economic development synthesize perfectly the two theoretical visions that sustain the academic, political and institutional ...