1.7. Economists often refer to the "natural resource curse," by which they mean that large amounts of natural resources tend to create bad politics because as long as the oil keeps flowing or the diamonds remain plentiful, political leaders don't need to care much about what goes on in the rest of the country.

a. Which one of the three factors of produc tion do you think matters most to a leader of a resource-rich country? Why? (Note: Does this help explain what you see happening in many resource-rich countries?)

b. Which one of the five key institutions do you think matters most to a leader of a resource-rich republic? Why? (Note: Does this help explain what you see happening in many resource-rich countries?)