Enter the resource curse -- the idea that the more stuff dug out from on or under a country, the slower it will grow and the higher the risk it will descend into civil war.
Groundbreaking research in “Rainfall, Human Capital, and Democracy," a new paper by SSHP Director Steve Haber and University of Washington political science professor Victor Menaldo, finds that regions with moderate rainfall support stable democracies, while regions with rainfall extremes cause persistent autocracies. To visit the discussion, visit the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV or Bloomberg News; for social commentary, visit this WSJ essay; or link to the paper or Powerpoint.
The U.S. government recently announced that geologists had discovered almost $1 trillion of mineral resources in Afghanistan. Will its newfound wealth promote economic growth and political stability, or will it fuel more corruption and violence, while doing little to improve the lives of everyday Afghans?
Steve Haber, Cox Medal awardee, conducted an analysis of the recent coup in Honduras on Forbes.com. The article is co-authored by Noel Maurer, associate professor of business, government and the international economy at the Harvard Business School.
Enter the resource curse -- the idea that the more stuff dug out from on or under a country, the slower it will grow and the higher the risk it will descend into civil war.
