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·2 mins
- Blowout:
- Chapter 8:
- The main idea was that if a non-democratic country suddenly finds a huge amount of oil, it’s not as if all its problems would magically go away. On the contrary, it would make the dictator and
theirhis family and close circle wealthy at the expense of the rest of the country. It also acts as a big incentive for these people to apply whatever means necessary to cling to power.- The author uses Equatorial Guinea as a case study. BBC repeats the book almost verbatim by saying the country “is now being cited as a textbook case of the resource curse - or the paradox of plenty”. However, that makes me wonder if the author picked the worst example to make her point and if this one example is sufficient to generalize the point.
- I was surprised to learn that its dictator has been (and still is) in power for 43 years as of today. According to Wikipedia, “He is the longest-serving president of any country ever”. Wow!
- Everyone wants a cut, and continue getting that cut, unless there are checks in place through democratic institutions.
- The author uses Equatorial Guinea as a case study. BBC repeats the book almost verbatim by saying the country “is now being cited as a textbook case of the resource curse - or the paradox of plenty”. However, that makes me wonder if the author picked the worst example to make her point and if this one example is sufficient to generalize the point.
- Oil industry requires massive upfront capital investment. So, the companies that are able to invest in it already have enough political clout.
- The author also went into great lengths about how extravagant the life of the president’s son is.
- The main idea was that if a non-democratic country suddenly finds a huge amount of oil, it’s not as if all its problems would magically go away. On the contrary, it would make the dictator and
- Chapter 9:
- The author repeats the idea that oil industries would prefer dealing with dictatorship to democracies because they just need to work with the person at the top and not worry about any red tape.
- American law forbids companies to bribe foreign nations. However, the author hints that bribery occurs through arbitrary “corporate expenses”.
- The industry doesn’t care about the impact of such bribes on the country’s masses because they “don’t want to meddle with their internal affairs”.
- The dictator of Equatorial Guinea was/is filthy rich.
- After 9/11, US would also welcome new sources of oil outside Middle East. (The country consumes more than what it produces.)
- The author repeats the idea that oil industries would prefer dealing with dictatorship to democracies because they just need to work with the person at the top and not worry about any red tape.
- Chapter 8: