The New Dutch Disease
The Dutch Disease has evolved. In today’s Global South, it is no longer driven only by oil and gas but by aid, remittances, and strategic rents that create fragile, consumption-led economies while eroding state capacity, productivity, and social trust.
Extractive Rule and Ethnic Fault Lines in Afghanistan
The halt of gold mining in Badakhshan reveals deeper fault lines in Taliban rule, where centralized extractive ambitions collide with ethnic grievances, local resistance, and fragile investor confidence, particularly involving China.