There's GOLD in them thar hills!

[kramerfan86]

Really dont see this ending well. With a better history of good government this could pull them out of the hole. But with such a history of corruption at best I see them getting no benefit other than a few corrupt bureaucrats and at worst this will make the situation spiral downward when through greed some more nasty bureaucrats seize power in a non-democratic way.

 

[G-Max]

They should nationalize their mineral deposits, then lease the mining rights to the highest bidder. To make the bidding just a little bit more competitive, they could charter a state-owned mining corporation, sell half of the stock in it, and consider bids from this corporation as being twice what they actually are.

It's the Fascist way.

 

[Masada]

Oh, that highest bidding is easy to fix. You either (A) bribe the bid-takers not to take the bid/understate it, (B) enter into a agreement with the other companies not to compete or (C) manipulate timing so that the preferred company can throw in a slightly higher bid after the deadline.

To make sure that the whole effect is watered down you then delay construction and/or under construct and plead poverty. The government will almost always give in and you reap a substantial windfall. Mining companies are really good at doing all this.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

I have a feeling that Haiti will always be poor.

It used to be one of the richest colonies (think sweet).

 

[Phrossack]

It used to be one of the richest colonies (think sweet).

Rich for whom? Slaveowners?

It seems like some countries are simply destined to be poor forever... and if by some miracle they do get rich, Earth cannot possibly have enough resources to satisfy billions of consumers. Either Malthus will be proven right after all and hundreds of millions, if not billions, will die, or billions will always be poor.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

Well when I say richest most profitable for an empire (The Slaveowners took the profit), but it was huge, sugar was a lot more expensive back in 1700's and 1800's. I disagree with that, there are enough resources for every single human being alive today, the only problem is distribution, some have more than they need and should while some have none.