Jim Devine wrote: > >Why High Oil Prices Are Bad ... for the Sellers > > > >By James Surowiecki > > > > > >In one important sense, this is of course a good thing for > >Venezuela, which under its new *strongman* This is a very important term. Strongman means we are not supposed to like him. > president, Hugo Chavez, > > >The problem is that insofar as higher oil prices encourage > >Venezuela to rely on its natural resources for economic growth and > >job creation, they probably do more long-term damage than > >short-term good. you can argue that high wages have the same effect, but we did not like it when Aristide tried to raise Haiti's minimum wage -- wasn't it something like 19 cents to 25 cents per hour. > > > >most of the United States' natural resources were > >subject to private exploitation rather than becoming foundations of > >the state economy, and it also probably has something to do with > >the sheer size of the U.S. economy, which was never going to be > >dominated by a single industry. Yes, the government found most of the stuff, paid for surveys and the like and then turned it over to private enterprise. > >In much of the world, though, the connection between natural > >resources and strong economic growth is quite weak, Oil has mostly proved to be a curse, because it generally leads to an unbalanced sort of growth rather than fund measures to create a rational society. > and some > >studies have suggested that countries with fewer natural > >resources--like, most obviously, Japan--are more likely to grow > >faster. Countries also often grow faster after they lose wars -- so long as sanctions do not continue. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
