Resource Curse

Task Force Chairs

• Joseph Stiglitz

• Jeffrey Sachs

• Macartan Humphreys

The discovery of oil or other valuable resources has been associated with devastating political conflict and economic setbacks, particularly in the poorest countries where pre-existing institutions for transparency and accountability are often the weakest. Only a few countries have managed resource revenues in a way that promotes sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation. There are lessons to be learned from both success and failure, and from comparing the experience of the wide range of countries that have become major resource exporters since the 1973 rise in the price of oil and other commodities.

IPD’s Resource Curse Task Force aims to create guidance for policymakers, policy analysts and activists concerned with the management of extractive industries in developing countries.