RESOURCE CURSE

A paradoxical situation where countries with an abundance of non-renewable resources experience stagnant growth or even economic contraction. The resource curse exists as a country begins to focus all of its energies on a single industry, such as mining, and neglects other major sectors.

As a result, the nation becomes overly dependent on the price of commodities, and overall gross domestic product becomes extremely volatile. Additionally, government corruption often results when proper resource rights and an income distribution framework is not established in the society, resulting in unfair regulation of the industry. The resource curse is most often witnessed in emerging markets following a major natural resource discovery.